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  SHOCK VOTE: Seattle City Council rejects drug enforcement policy 5-4

  Seattle's city attorney will not be enforcing a state drug law that passed this spring.

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  Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison says she's not leading a new 'war on drugs'

  Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison wants her office to prosecute people arrested for drugs.
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  Will WA’s new drug law help or hurt people struggling with addiction?

  Washington has a new law on drug possession. Governor Inslee signed it Tuesday, just hours after lawmakers returned for a special session. It contains increased penalties for drug use and possession, and more funding for addiction treatment. Mayors say the language grants them the autonomy they needed, while proponents of harm reduction worry that cities will stymie their efforts amidst a crisis of drug overdose deaths.
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  Washington leaders call new drug law 'imperfect' solution to overdose crisis

  Many lawmakers call Washington's new drug policy a hard compromise that represents just one step toward tackling the state's overdose crisis.

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  Gov. Inslee signs new drug possession law after special legislative session

  The Washington state Legislature approved a bipartisan compromise Tuesday to address drug possession and treatment during a one-day special session and Gov. Jay Inslee signed the bill into law.
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  WA Legislature votes on a Blake fix. Now drug courts have to adapt

  In the hours before Washington’s legislative session ended last month, House Democrats called a vote. It was for a fix to what’s called “The Blake Decision” -- a 2021 state Supreme Court ruling striking down Washington’s felony drug possession law. In response, legislators put in place a temporary fix that treated knowingly carrying drugs as a misdemeanor. That measure is set to expire July 1st. But as the clock ticked down on the regular session, the votes weren’t there. The State House failed to pass the bill, which threw the future of the state’s drug possession law into question – and prompted a number of cities and counties to start passing their own patchwork of regulations.
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  Why are drug possession laws are so contentious in Washington state?

  Lawmakers are gathering in Olympia today for the start of a special legislative session. There’s only one thing on the agenda: A new drug possession law.
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  The backlash over Seattle's plan to reward drug users for staying clean

  Darryl Lee shifts in his seat and stares down at his lap as he unearths some distant memories of childhood. This isn’t nostalgia. His dad was a “chronic alcoholic,” and “abusive.” To escape, his mom moved the family to Seattle from Dallas. Eventually, Lee fell in with the wrong crowd, he said. “I got addicted to drugs and started going to jail and started being a criminal, and it just snowballed after that,” he said.
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  What's so special about WA's upcoming special session?

  The 2023 regular legislative session may be over, but lawmakers will be heading back to Olympia soon for a special session.
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  Inslee announces special legislative session to pass new drug possession law

  Gov. Jay Inslee announced Tuesday he's calling for a special legislative session to begin on May 16, so lawmakers can finalize new drug possession penalties and addiction treatment options.

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