Legislature took good advantage of crisis to push forward drug and addiction policy
In February, our state’s Supreme Court threw out a state law that made possessing illegal drugs a crime because the law omitted the word “knowingly.”
That created a crisis that the late Georgia Congressman John Lewis might have described as “good trouble.” It gave legislators a golden opportunity to walk away from the failed war on drugs and treat addiction like the disease it is rather than a criminal offense. And though they wobbled a bit, they mostly did.
During debate on final passage of the new law, Jessica Bateman, one of our 22nd District legislators, pushed that effort forward when she revealed that she suffered an opiate addiction for four years, and recovered with the help of Suboxone and a lot of therapy. Like many people with addictions, she had been getting high to assuage the pain of past, untreated trauma. Her story has a happy ending; she has been drug-free for 14 years.
“So many of the stories turn out differently, because for decades we’ve tried a failed policy of punishment and fear instead of treatment and hope,” said the former Olympia City Council member.
Several other legislators recounted stories of friends and relatives who had suffered from addictions, at least one that was fatal. Tarra Simmons, D-Bremerton, has a past felony conviction for drug use and theft that led to a prison term. She is now a successful attorney.
Every brave person willing to publicly acknowledge a history of addiction helps reduce the stigma that has made rational legislation about drug use and addiction so hard to come by. We appreciate Representative Bateman’s courage.
But addiction is a very complicated brain disease, and its complexity, as much as the stigma, also makes rational legislation a challenge. Understanding that jail is not a cure is just the first step.
That’s why the ambitious new law calls for a continuum of care composed of three phases: active outreach to those in the throes of addiction; treatment, either inpatient, outpatient or a combination of both; and recovery services, including housing, employment pathways, education, coaching, family support services and legal help — in short, the things that people need to rebuild their lives.
The new law also recognizes the need for integrated services and treatment for people who struggle with both addiction and a serious mental health condition. For people who are homeless, it calls for outreach and “assertive community treatment services.”
To design and plan this system, the legislation establishes an advisory committee that will include people with lived experience of addiction and recovery alongside legislators, and people who work in treatment, mental health and related agencies. This committee is to bring a fully developed three-phase plan to the 2023 legislative session for adoption.
Thus, the new law sets the direction toward leaving the criminal justice system out of our scheme for addressing addiction, but recognizes that creating an integrated outreach, treatment and recovery system is a herculean task will take time, planning and money.
In the meantime, until July 2023, (following that year’s legislative session), possession of illegal drugs will remain a misdemeanor, punishable by up to 90 days in jail. However, the new law requires alternatives to criminal penalties for the first two incidents, and the option of alternatives after that. We hope local prosecutors and police will lean into alternatives.
Most Senate Republicans are leaning in the other direction, and many were loath to let go of tougher criminal penalties. So, depending on results of the 2022 election, the 2023 legislative session could upend the progress made this year, or it could adopt and fund the recommendations of the advisory committee, and take us another big step forward.
Our state has already made steady progress in funding for behavioral health, which includes addiction treatment. This year’s budget includes $88 million in new spending for treatment and recovery support services, and $39 million to expand mobile crisis teams, as well as rate increases for mental health and addiction treatment providers.
These investments and the new law are important contributions to repairing the glaring racial inequities that the war on drugs has visited on people of color, most especially the Black community.
We salute the legislature for a thoughtful and thorough response to the Blake decision. They did not let a good crisis go to waste.