Washington State to Decriminalize Drugs with or without Lawmakers' Action

Washington state is on the brink of decriminalizing drug possession after lawmakers rejected a bill that would have kept it illegal and boosted services for people struggling with addiction. Governor Jay Inslee has called lawmakers back to work to produce a bipartisan bill that balances accountability and treatment. If they fail to pass a bill, Washington would become the second state, after neighboring Oregon, to decriminalize drug possession. Cities and counties would be free to adopt their own approaches to drug possession and paraphernalia, creating a patchwork of laws that could undermine efforts to treat addiction as a public health issue.