{"id":2005815,"date":"2023-08-19T13:47:01","date_gmt":"2023-08-19T17:47:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/seattle-law-expiring-leaves-door-open-to-legal-hard-drug-use-in-the-city\/"},"modified":"2023-08-19T13:50:01","modified_gmt":"2023-08-19T17:50:01","slug":"seattle-law-expiring-leaves-door-open-to-legal-hard-drug-use-in-the-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/seattle-law-expiring-leaves-door-open-to-legal-hard-drug-use-in-the-city\/","title":{"rendered":"Seattle&#8217;s expiring law allows legal use of hard drugs in the city."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fseattle-law-expiring-leaves-door-open-to-legal-hard-drug-use-in-the-city%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2005815&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>A \u2063New Era\u2062 for Drug Use in\u200c Seattle: Public \u2063Drug Use No Longer Criminalized<\/h2>\n<p>A local law in Seattle aimed toward criminalizing \u2063public drug use <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/musk-chinas-byd-deny-report-on-tesla-ending-battery-supply-cooperation\/\" title=\"Musk, China\u2019s BYD deny report on Tesla ending battery supply cooperation\">expired earlier<\/a> this week \u200cwithout lawmakers instituting a replacement, meaning known possession \u2064of \u200cdrugs and its \u200dpublic use is effectively \u200clegal in the city until council members implement new restrictions.<\/p>\n<p>The Seattle City \u2062Council voted 5-4 against a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fla-gov-desantis-unveils-statewide-bill-targeting-chinese-influence\/\" title=\"Fla. Gov. DeSantis unveils statewide bill targeting Chinese influence\">statewide bill<\/a> that would make known\u2063 possession and public drug use a gross\u200b misdemeanor, making it the only city in the state\u200c of Washington &#8220;where it is legal to\u200c use hard drugs in public,&#8221; \u2064according to City\u200d Attorney Ann Davison. Local lawmakers have not yet come to an agreement on\u200d how to prosecute drug use, leaving the city \u2064in limbo until a new bill is passed.<\/p>\n<h3>Three High-Profile Bills the California Legislature\u200c Will Hear Before Session Ends<\/h3>\n<p>The situation comes after a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/seattle-law-expiring-leaves-door-open-to-legal-hard-drug-use-in-the-city\/\" title=\"Seattle's expiring law allows legal use of hard drugs in the city.\">statewide temporary drug law expired\u2063 earlier<\/a> this week, ending a two-year statute that \u2064listed drug possession as a misdemeanor and offered treatment \u200dto\u2064 those \u2064who were found in violation \u200crather than\u200c prosecution\u200d for their first two offenses. The stopgap measure was\u200d implemented after the state Supreme Court struck down the state&#8217;s previous law making all drug possession a felony, which opponents argued was unconstitutional because residents could be charged \u200beven without knowing they possessed drugs.<\/p>\n<p>State \u2064legislators were then tasked with passing\u200c a replacement bill, which proved difficult as lawmakers disagreed on how to address the issue. That put the state government in a scramble \u2062as they quickly approached the expiration\u200c date\u200b on Tuesday, \u2063prompting Gov. Jay Inslee (D) to call a special session in mid-May\u2063 to find a\u2064 solution.<\/p>\n<p>Lawmakers later passed a bipartisan bill that would make known drug possession and public\u200b drug use a gross misdemeanor, with offenders\u200b being punished with \u200dup to 364 days in jail. The law \u200cwould also allow\u2062 prosecutors \u2063to recommend treatment \u2062as an alternative.<\/p>\n<p>However, \u200dSeattle&#8217;s municipal code exempts \u200dthe city from \u200dautomatically adopting changes to the state code \u2014 teeing the legislation up for a vote that was\u2063 shot down by the\u2062 city council.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We had one\u2064 job \u2014 conform to\u200d state \u200dlaw making drug possession and public use a gross misdemeanor\u2063 \u2014\u200d and we \u200bfailed,&#8221; councilwoman\u200d Sara Nelson said after the vote failed in June. &#8220;I&#8217;m \u200bdisappointed that \u2064for\u200b the time \u2063being, \u200cthe majority of\u2063 Councilmembers have chosen to stick with\u2063 the status quo that&#8217;s claiming more \u200cand \u2064more\u2063 lives\u2063 every day.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\">Click here to read more from \u200cthe\u200b Washington\u200b Examiner<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Law enforcement can\u2063 still\u200b make arrests\u200c in Seattle \u2063under the new <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/judge-rules-ca-gov-overstepped-his-authority-with-covid-order-issues-permanent-injunction-restraining-newsom-from-further-issuing-unconstitutional-orders\/\" title=\"Judge Rules CA Gov Overstepped His Authority with Covid Order, Issues Permanent Injunction Restraining Newsom From Further Issuing Unconstitutional Orders\">state law<\/a>, but prosecutions could be \u200ddelayed as the\u2064 city \u200dattorney is \u2063responsible for handling misdemeanors.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s not\u2062 yet clear when \u2062lawmakers\u2064 will reconsider legislation \u200cto tackle the city&#8217;s drug crime problem, but the city council said\u200c it\u2063 plans to reconvene\u2063 on Sept. 12. \u200dThat would put the council \u2062on track \u200bfor\u2064 a vote as soon as Sept. 19. \u2064After that, the\u200c bill would need to\u2062 be signed by Seattle Mayor \u2063Bruce Harrell,\u200b allowing the bill to take effect 30 days later.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>drug possession a misdemeanor offense, further complicating the situation. As a result, Seattle currently lacks any specific laws to address public drug use, leaving it effectively decriminalized until new regulations are put in place by council members. The rejection of the statewide bill adds to the complexity, leaving the city in a legal limbo regarding drug possession.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2005816,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2005815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2005815","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2005815"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2005815\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2005816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2005815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2005815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2005815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}