Washington Lawmakers Introduce Bill to Decriminalize All Drugs

Ben Adlin, writing for Marijuana Moment:

Washington State lawmakers on Thursday introduced landmark legislation to decriminalize possessing small amounts of all drugs and expand treatment services for people with substance use disorders, part of a growing trend of U.S. states backing away from a crime-control model of drug enforcement and instead treating the issue as a public health matter.

“Substance disorder is among the only health conditions for which a person can be arrested for displaying symptoms,” says the new Washington bill, HB 1499, sponsored by Reps. Lauren Harris (D) and Kirsten Harris-Talley (D). “Treating substance disorder like a crime through arrests and incarceration further disrupts and destabilizes the lives of these individuals.”

The proposal would eliminate criminal penalties for possession of so-called “personal use amounts” of controlled substances and direct the Washington State Health Care Authority (HCA) to craft a plan under which “continual, rapid and widespread access to a comprehensive continuum of care must be provided to all persons with substance use disorder.”

Speaking of progressive policies, Washington is working on decriminalizing all drugs just like it’s southern neighbor.

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Drug Decriminalization Goes Into Effect in Oregon

Jon Blistein, writing for Rolling Stone:

Oregon’s state law decriminalizing all drugs officially goes into effect today, February 1st.

The first-of-its-kind initiative, Measure 110, passed overwhelmingly last November, with 58.5 percent voting in favor. As the Salem, Oregon Statesman Journal notes, the law reclassifies possession of small amounts of drugs (e.g. less than one gram of heroin, 40 units of LSD, or 12 grams of psilocybin) as a civil violation that comes with a $100 fine, though that fine can be avoided if the person agrees to seek treatment. For possession of slightly larger amounts of some drugs (such as one to three grams of heroin, or two to eight grams of cocaine), the penalty has been reduced from a felony to misdemeanor possession.

Based on successful decriminalization models implemented in Portugal and Switzerland, proponents of Measure 110 see it as a chance to prioritize drug treatment over police enforcement. New treatment services — including 15 addiction recovery centers to be opened by October 1st — will be funded with excess marijuana tax revenue, which stands at over $45 million now and could grow to $129 million by 2027, per the Drug Policy Alliance. Additionally, Oregon will fund these services with the money it’s expected to save by no longer arresting, incarcerating and prosecuting people for drug possession.

February’s off to a good start.

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DarkMarket Goes Dark

Gavin Butler, writing for VICE:

The primary operator behind DarkMarket, a website that prosecutors have described as "probably the largest illegal marketplace on the Darknet", has been arrested in Germany.

Authorities apprehended the 34-year-old Australian man during a raid in the south-western city of Koblenz over the weekend. The website was shut down and the server was turned off on Monday.

DarkMarket, which had nearly 500,000 users and more than 2,400 vendors, allowed anyone with a Tor browser and some cryptocurrency to buy and sell drugs, forged money, forged or stolen credit cards, anonymous SIM cards and malware. The site had processed more than 320,000 transactions, with some $170 million USD worth of Bitcoin and Monero cryptocurrencies having been exchanged.

Another one bites the dust.

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The Third (and Likely Final) Season of Hamilton's Pharmacopeia Is Out

In case you weren’t already aware, the third (and likely final) season of Hamilton’s Pharmacopeia started airing on VICE TV this week. I haven’t had a chance to watch any of it yet myself but I figured the Think Wilder audience would like to know that it’s out there. Apparently the first episode focuses on 5-MeO-DMT, and judging from the write-up on Psychedelic Science Review it sounds mighty interesting if you ask me.

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Go Take the 2021 Global Drug Survey

At the end of every year the Global Drug Survey opens up, inviting people from around the world to take part in the world’s biggest anonymous drug survey.

Since its inaugural run in 2014, the survey data has revealed information about new substance use trends, helping to guide the development of saner drug policies and distributing up-to-date harm reduction tips and techniques.

In addition to asking the usual questions, this year the Global Drug Survey is also zeroing in on a few new topics: how COVID-19 has changed how people share drugs, online support for mental health problems, the ways people use marijuana medicinally, microdosing with psychedelics, and partying during the pandemic. Your experience has never mattered more.

If you’ve taken drugs this year then you should fill out this survey. It can take a while to complete, especially if you’ve used a wide variety of substances, but the data will contribute to a better understanding of how the world uses drugs and educate people on how to use them in the safest possible way.

Time is quickly running out so you better jump on it fast if you want to participate—the submission period ends on January 31st.