New state law makes drug possession a misdemeanor

Gov Jay Inslee says the measure will “help reduce the disparate impact of the previous drug possession statute on people of color.”

  • By Rachel La Corte and Gene Johnson Associated Press
  • Thursday, May 13, 2021 2:25pm
  • Northwest

By Rachel La Corte and Gene Johnson / Associated Press

OLYMPIA — The jeans were from American Eagle, via Goodwill, and they were too short for their new owner, 6-foot Shannon Bowman.

So Bowman stitched a couple inches of denim onto the bottom of the legs and put them on for the first time two days after her friend had given them to her. She didn’t notice the tiny, nearly empty baggie of methamphetamine in the coin pocket.

That fact more than four years later would lead to a Washington state Supreme Court decision striking down Washington’s drug possession law; the expected vacation of tens of thousands of criminal convictions dating back decades; and the overhaul of the state’s approach to drug possession signed into law by Gov. Jay Inslee on Thursday.

“It’s cool there’s a lot of people who are going to have a second chance to make things right,” Bowman said in a recent interview. “Hopefully they go down a good road.”

The bill signed by Inslee makes drug possession a misdemeanor, rather than the felony it was under the old law. Inslee said the measure will “help reduce the disparate impact of the previous drug possession statute on people of color.”

“It moves the system from responding to possession as a felony to focusing on the behavioral health response, which is a much more appropriate and successful way to address the needs that underlie drug abuse,” the governor said.

Oregon this year became the only other state to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of all types of drugs and increase access to treatment. Washington’s measure likewise aims to greatly expand treatment services and outreach, including to homeless people with severe behavioral health issues.

The Washington measure requires police to divert a defendant’s first two offenses to treatment before the case even made it to a prosecutor, and if a defendant’s case ever reached a prosecutor, the prosecutor would be able to divert as well. Regional “recovery navigator” teams will be set up to help provide “continual, rapid, and widespread access to a comprehensive continuum of care” to “all persons with substance abuse disorder.”

In two years, the provision classifying drug possession as a misdemeanor expires, reverting to current law with no prohibition. That’s designed to give lawmakers time to re-evaluate how the state’s new policies are working and potentially figure out a long-term strategy for drug policy.

The 5-4 ruling in Bowman’s case — known as the Blake decision, because she was charged under a surname she hasn’t used in more than 20 years — held that Washington’s drug law was unconstitutional because it didn’t require prosecutors to prove that a defendant knowingly had the drugs. That left the possession of small amounts of drugs, including heroin, cocaine and meth, legal under state law, even for children.

The justices issued the ruling in February, well into the legislative session in Olympia. Lawmakers scrambled to write a new law.

Bowman, 43, now lives in a motor home on her parents’ property near Kettle Falls, north of Spokane. She has been working as a logger but the felony on her record long kept her from renting her own place, she said.

At the time of her arrest in 2016, she and her boyfriend, who was addicted to heroin, were renting a room in a Spokane house for $200 a month. They had recently been homeless.

Police took her to jail, where her blood pressure was so high that they sent her to a hospital. When she returned to the jail, guards searched her and found the baggie in her coin pocket.

Bowman told the AP she had kicked an addiction to pain pills and never used meth because of her blood pressure. Had she known the baggie was in her jeans, she would have ditched it while she was at the hospital, she said.

She didn’t think the outcome of her case made for good public policy.

“For there to be no punishment at all, I didn’t feel like that was going to help anything. But felonies for people like me? That was a little extreme,” she said.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Northwest

The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction faces a lawsuit from a former employee alleging wrongful termination. (Photo by Bill Lucia/Washington State Standard)
Ex-Washington state worker claims she was fired over school board vote on trans athletes

Darby Kaikkonen has sued the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction and Superintendent Chris Reykdal, alleging retaliation and wrongful termination.

Members of the California National Guard and federal law enforcement stand guard as people protest outside of the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building and Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles, on Tuesday. (Philip Cheung/The New York Times)
Ferguson prepares for possibility of Trump deploying troops in Washington

The governor planned to meet with the state’s top military official Tuesday, after the president sent the National Guard and Marines to respond to Los Angeles protests.

The Washington state Capitol on April 18, 2025. (Photo by Jacquelyn Jimenez Romero/Washington State Standard)
Washington governor wants agencies to look for deeper cuts

The state’s financial turmoil hasn’t subsided. It may get worse when a new revenue forecast comes out this month.

Washington stuck mid-pack in national education ranking

The new report underscores shortfalls in reading and math proficiency. Still, the state’s top school official says data show progress recovering from the pandemic.

Washington’s Supreme Court slashes public defender caseload limits

The changes will take effect Jan. 1, but local governments get a decade to comply. For cash-strapped counties, it may not be enough time without more state aid.

Bill Lucia / Washington State Standard
State Sen. Manka Dhingra, D-Redmond, chair of the Senate Law & Justice Committee, left, asks a question during a February 2024 hearing.
New WA agency investigating police deadly force incidents sees budget cuts

The Office of Independent Investigations still plans to expand into more parts of the state this year.

Beginning on July 1, 2026, those living in Washington who qualify can begin accessing the long-term care benefit, which has a lifetime cap of $36,500, adjusted over time for inflation. Eligible beneficiaries living out of state can tap into benefits starting July 1, 2030. (Washington State Department of Social & Health Services)
Washington’s long-term care program nears liftoff

It’s been criticized, revised and survived a ballot box challenge. Now, the first-in-nation benefit is on track for a 2026 rollout.

File photo 
State auditors are beginning investigations into whether police departments are properly reporting officer misconduct.
WA looks to tighten compliance under police accountability law

Washington state auditors have started investigating whether local police departments are properly… Continue reading

Jake Goldstein-Street / Washington State Standard 
Washington Attorney General Nick Brown, center, speaks to reporters alongside Solicitor General Noah Purcell, left, and Northwest Immigrant Rights Project Legal Director Matt Adams, right, outside a Seattle courthouse where federal appeals court judges heard arguments over President Donald Trump’s executive order on birthright citizenship on Wednesday.
Trump’s birthright citizenship order lands in Seattle appeals court

The U.S. Supreme Court, meanwhile, hasn’t ruled whether a decision from one judge can block a president’s executive order from taking effect nationwide.

Travis Decker is suspected of killing his 3 daughters Paityn, Evelyn, and Olivia. (Courtesy GoFundMe)
Manhunt expands for state dad accused of killing his 3 daughters

The bodies of the three Wenatchee girls were found June 2 near the father’s abandoned pickup.

Court fight pits religious group that doesn’t want LGBTQ+ employees against WA law

The Union Gospel Mission of Yakima argues it can’t be forced to hire workers that don’t align with its biblical values. The case may end up before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Attorney General Nick Brown, center, speaks to reporters alongside California Attorney General Rob Bonta, right, and Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield, left, before an event at Town Hall Seattle on Monday, June 2, 2025. (Photo by Jake Goldstein-Street/Washington State Standard)
Washington’s attorney general sees no signs of legal battles with Trump letting up

Nick Brown described a “crisis” surrounding the president’s use of executive power and said he expects to file more lawsuits against the administration, in addition to 20 brought so far.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.