Decriminalizing Drugs in Seattle

Seattle is struggling with rampant drug use and deaths, but as of this week the City Council has effectively decriminalized the possession and public use of drugs. You can guess where this will lead.

In 2021 the Washington Supreme Court overturned the state’s felony drug possession statute, ruling that it violated due process protections by outlawing even unknowing drug possession. In May the Democratic state Legislature passed a bipartisan fix that makes the known possession and public use of drugs a gross misdemeanor, punishable by up to 364 days in jail. It also encourages prosecutors to divert cases to provide treatment or support services for addicts.

The Seattle City Council is now thwarting the prosecution of these drug crimes. In 2021 voters elected City Attorney Ann Davison on a law-and-order mandate, but she can prosecute only the misdemeanors and gross misdemeanors listed in the city’s municipal code. Unlike many Washington cities, Seattle doesn’t automatically update its code to conform with changes in state law.

In June the City Council voted 5-4 against a bill that would list known possession and public drug use as a gross misdemeanor, and a stopgap measure for handling the drug crimes expired on Aug. 15 as the new law took effect. The City Council’s failure to act now makes Seattle “the only municipality in the State of Washington where it is legal to use hard drugs in public,” Ms. Davison said.

Police can still make arrests under the new state law. But in Seattle the city attorney handles misdemeanors while the King County prosecutor focuses on felonies. King County prosecuting attorney Leesa Manion told the City Council that under state law her office can’t handle the gross misdemeanors unless Seattle contracts with it to do so, and she also lacks the staff and funding to take on this case load. If the city attorney can’t go after known possession or public drug use, cases will go unprosecuted.

This means many drug users will continue their descent into misery because a legal intervention is often the only way they will accept treatment. Ms. Davison has said that her “principal goal” in handling misdemeanor cases would be to get drug users into treatment.

Council member Kshama Sawant says this would be “like putting the fox in charge of the hen house, and then urging the fox to guard them as well.” Council member Tammy Morales says bringing Seattle code in line with state law would “have deadly consequences” and Seattle should increase “funds for low-income housing production, social services, and life-saving harm reduction instead of jailing.”

This is progressive fantasy land. Last year there were 589 overdose deaths in Seattle, a 72% increase over 2021. Most involved fentanyl or meth. King County emergency medical services had responded to some 4,918 opioid overdoses by Aug. 13 this year, compared to fewer than 3,700 in all of 2021.

Seattle’s drug crisis has contributed to record levels of violent and property crime. The Downtown Seattle Association recently found that nearly three-fourths of locals they polled are visiting downtown Seattle less, and public disorder is the top reason. Thank the City Council.