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.