The same thing would be to decriminalize all drugs, and enforce laws against public consumption, as we already do with alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis. Of course that won’t happen. A quarter-century ago, Frank Chopp told me it would never happen in the legislature; citizens would have to do it via initiative. Get filing!

No such thing as a "centrist Democrat".

That's a Republican pretending to be a Democrat, because nobody wants to vote for extremist radical activist Republicans.

@5 just like there is no such thing as a progressive democrat. They are just socialists who know if they ran as such they would have zero shot at getting elected as no one wants to vote for extremist radical leftists either.

@2 - People convicted of drug possession under a simple misdemeanor statute are very unlikely to serve 90 days, and those convicted under a gross misdemeanor statute are very unlikely to serve 364 days.

The only people I ever saw get the full 364 days on a gross misdemeanor were serious drunks on their 3d, 4th, or 5th DUIs. Almost everyone gets sentenced to a much shorter term (on the order of weeks) with the rest of the time suspended. It is the suspended jail time that gives the courts leverage to enforce conditions like drug or alcohol treatment.

“ …a desire from Democratic leadership to pass a bill with Republican support”

First, that’s some sorry-ass ‘leadership.’ They may be ‘the people in charge’ but they’re not ‘leaders’ if that’s their governing strategy.

Second, Republican buy-in in the Legislature won’t stop this from becoming an issue in the next election… because the candidates who challenge Democrats in 2024 are Not Currently In The Legislature!

Finally, someone always brings up the cost of a Special Session, and it’s always irrelevant. Legislators and their staff are full-time employees who are paid year-round. Yes, the legislators (but not their staff) get per-diem pay during Sessions…. but almost all of them make a grand gesture of foregoing that during Special Sessions. The expense of turning on the lights and running a few Xerox machines is trivial for a state running on a budget of billions of dollars a year.

"Rep. Macri, who is also the deputy director for Seattle’s Downtown Emergency Service Center (DESC), said people in the House opposed a gross misdemeanor because longer maximum sentences govern the length of probation."

This is incorrect and should be corrected. RCW 35.20.255(1) says a judge can impose 5 years probation on DUI and DV offenses and 2 years for all other offenses, regardless of whether the offense is a misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor. Judges almost always impose the maximum allowed time for probation. So regardless of whether the legislature makes drug possession a misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor, the court will likely be imposing 2 years of probation.

@7: "no one wants to vote for extremist radical leftists"

So how do you explain Kshama Sawant?

@12: She was barely elected citywide for being Not Richard Conlin, then fled into the supposed safety of District 3. There, she was barely able to prevent her neighboring citizens from recalling her. Not exactly a great example of people being willing to vote “for” extremist radical leftists.

'extremist radical leftists'

the corporate-owned
media pushes US
further & further
'right' & the Cen-
ter becomes the
so-called Left

in Olde Europe
they'd be properly
classified as Centrists

Unterrified by a social safety network
beholden to the Citizenry and
uncontrolled by and for
multinational fucking
Corporations

can You
spot the
Difference?

sadly
too Many
can Not. SAD!

Possessing and consuming controlled substances does directly cause harm to any other person. The state has no right to criminalize it. The only drug law they should be passing is to prevent local governments from criminalizing possession and consumption. There is a difference between finding compromise and becoming compromised.