Their main excuse? Police were never properly trained on how to handle possession and use cases so they now want to offer immunity for a misdemeanor if you take treatment instead. If not, you get a misdemeanor and the draconian shit starts all over again. Source
I mean, it is sort of a common thing in areas where heroin use is prevalent due to its effect on the digestive system.
The thing is, the law provided for treatment options and other ways to help addicts, but it was never implemented, probably on purpose to get this exact outcome.
The problem with this entire argument is that this was occurring long before the ballot measure passed in 2020 when “using drugs gets you a trip to jail.” Putting people in jail once again is just wasting our tax dollars because it obviously didn’t work as a deterrent before and won’t work not.
After failing to fund any treatment centers like the law mandated, state Dems caved to Republican propaganda in order to do better in this year’s election.
Yeah, of course. Drug use has been going up in other states that didn’t go down this route. It’s a health issue, not a criminal issue, but there’s too many people that are profiting off throwing scores of people in prison.
Decriminalisation should go hand in hand with defunding police and funding housing, health and education, so of course the police isn’t going to be cooperative if you’re trying to do that.
The point is that people are doing drugs on the street because the street is where they live.
If druggies have homes they do drugs at home.
Yeah, of course. But they were unwilling to fund that aspect of the decriminalisation.
That’s well said!