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Drug War Chronicle, Issue #1189 -- 6/20/23
Phillip S. Smith, Editor, psmith@drcnet.org https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/1189

A Publication of StoptheDrugWar.org
David Borden, Executive Director, borden@drcnet.org
"Raising Awareness of the Consequences of Drug Prohibition"

Table of Contents:

1. WASHINGTON STATE TO PAY OUT MILLIONS TO PEOPLE BUSTED FOR DRUG
POSSESSION [FEATURE]
The state of Washington is breaking new ground in righting old wrongs. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2023/jun/14/washington_state_pay_out

2. THE PUNITIVE PROHIBITIONIST APPROACH TO DRUG USE DURING PREGNANCY IS
KILLING WOMEN [FEATURE]
There seems to be a growing consensus that our approach to drug use
during pregnancy is worse than wrongheaded. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2023/may/31/punitive_prohibitionist_approach

3. CHRONICLE BOOK REVIEW: CAN LEGAL WEED WIN?
If you're in the marijuana business or thinking about investing in the industry, you need to read this book. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2023/jun/07/chronicle_book_review_can_legal

4. THIS WEEK'S CORRUPT COPS STORIES
It's all guards gone bad this week. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2023/jun/14/weeks_corrupt_cops_stories

5. NY CRACKDOWN ON UNLICENSED WEED SALES, VIDEO CAPTURES MEXICAN
SOLDIERS KILLING DRUG SUSPECTS, MORE... (6/9/23)
American truckers are fed up with marijuana prohibition and testing
policies, Rhode Island expunges 23,000 pot possession records, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2023/jun/09/ny_crackdown_unlicensed_weed

6. CALL FOR CLEMENCY FOR CRACK COCAINE PRISONERS, US CITIZEN ARRESTED ON
DRUG CHARGES IN MOSCOW, MORE... (6/12/23)
Florida's attorney general has a couple more weeks to try to take down a marijuana legalization initiative, Jammu & Kashmir cracks down on opium cultivation, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2023/jun/12/call_clemency_crack_cocaine

7. NV LAWMAKERS APPROVE LEGAL POT REFORM BILL, PERU BLOWS UP COCAINE AIR STRIPS, MORE... (6/13/23)
Missouri NORML is threatening recalcitrant rural counties with court
orders over their failure to get expungements done, a pair of senators
file a bill to fight Mexican cartels by increasing southbound
inspections near the border, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2023/jun/13/nv_lawmakers_approve_legal_pot

8. MA NATURAL PSYCHEDELIC BILLS GET HEARING, BIG RISE IN PSYCHEDELIC USE
IN YOUNG ADULTS, MORE... (5/14/23)
Alabama issues its first medical marijuana licenses, the British Home
Office is messing with festival drug checking, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2023/jun/14/ma_natural_psychedelic_bills_get

9. CIVIL ASSET FORFEITURE REFORM BILL ADVANCES IN HOUSE, RI HOUSE PASSES PSILOCYBIN DECRIMINALIZATION, MORE... (6/15/23)
Oklahoma's governor vetoes a medical marijuana regulation bill, Texas's governor signs into law a bill allowing murder prosecutions for fentanyl overdose deaths, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2023/jun/15/civil_asset_forfeiture_reform

10. AR JUDGE VOIDS LAWS ALTERING MEDMJ LAW, EU RELEASES ANNUAL DRUG
REPORT, MORE... (6/16/23)
There are signals that a federal marijuana rescheduling decision will be reached this year, a Senate bill to crack down on drug cartel use of
social media wins a committee vote, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2023/jun/16/ar_judge_voids_laws_altering

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================

1. WASHINGTON STATE TO PAY OUT MILLIONS TO PEOPLE BUSTED FOR DRUG
POSSESSION [FEATURE] https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2023/jun/14/washington_state_pay_out

The Washington Supreme Court's 2021 ruling in Washington v. Blake (https://law.justia.com/cases/washington/supreme-court/2021/96873-0.html) continues to reverberate. In Blake, the court threw out the state's drug possession law as unconstitutional because it did not require that
defendants knew they were in possession of a controlled substance,
overturning hundreds of thousands of drug convictions going back to the
1970s.

That left the state without a felony drug possession law until the
legislature acted to replace it, which it did temporarily in 2021 and permanently this year, although it required a special session of the legislature to get it done. Lawmakers could have done nothing,
effectively decriminalizing drug possession, or they could have fixed
the flaws in the original statute and reinstated the felony drug
possession charge. Instead, they found middle ground (https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2023/may/17/washington_state_makes_drug), making drug possession a gross misdemeanor and creating a new offense of
public drug use. Both offenses carry maximum jail time of 180 days and a maximum fine of $1,000.

But while the politicians and the press were embroiled in the drug
possession law dilemma, another aspect of the Blake decision is just
beginning to be felt, and it's going to cost state taxpayers just about
$100 million. All those people convicted under the drug possession law
are eligible to have their sentences vacated -- tens of thousands have
already done so -- and once those convictions are vacated, so are the
fines and fees associated with them, meaning the state is going to owe
those people money.

To reimburse convicted drug possession offenders of the Legal Financial Obligations (LFOs) they paid, the Administrative Office of the Courts is launching what will be known as the Blake Refund Bureau. The legislature
has allocated $50 million to make the refunds and another $47 million to administer the program.

"This is setting a precedent," said Robin Zimmermann (https://www.courts.wa.gov/newsinfo/?fa=newsinfo.internetdetail&newsid=50125), the Administrative Office of the Courts' Senior Communications Officer.
"There aren't any other related cases of a state issuing hundreds, or thousands, of vacations [of convictions] and refunds at one time."

Roughly 200,000 felony drug possession convictions and tens of thousands
of marijuana possession convictions could be eligible for compensation, although exact numbers are hard to come by because some people may have
had more than one conviction and others may have died in the interim.

Municipal, district, and superior courts have already ordered the
payment of roughly $8 million, and the Administrative Office of the
Courts believes that millions more will be paid out in coming years, necessitating the creation of a specialized bureau to administer the
payouts.

"The intent is to have a process that is easy to navigate and will
provide for a timely response for individuals to receive their refunds,"
said Sharon Swanson (https://www.courts.wa.gov/newsinfo/?fa=newsinfo.internetdetail&newsid=50125), the Blake Implementation Manager for the Administrative Office of the
Courts.

The Blake Refund Bureau, which is set to be up and running by next
month, will create an online portal accessible to the public via a link
on www.courts.wa.gov (http://www.courts.wa.gov). The refund bureau will
provide individuals who have had their Blake convictions vacated a self-navigable database to determine if they have refunds related to
their convictions. Refund requests will be submitted through an online application. Once the application has been received and an amount of
refund is confirmed by the court, a refund will be issued.

"The Administrative Office of the Courts is dedicated to working with
our justice partners to help inform the vast and diverse Blake-impact population across Washington State about the potentially life-changing
relief opportunities now available to them -- collectively working to
foster fresh starts and make people whole again," said Dawn Marie Rubio (https://www.courts.wa.gov/newsinfo/?fa=newsinfo.internetdetail&newsid=50125), Washington State Court Administrator.

The Office of Public Defense is doing its part with a web site, State v.
Blake (wa.gov) (https://www.opd.wa.gov/index.php/program/trial-defense/12-pd/266), with resources and information about how to get drug possession convictions
off your record, the first step in the process of getting compensation
for LFOs you paid.

The state of Washington is breaking new ground in righting old wrongs.
If that means taxpayers have to pay for the sins of their fathers, so be it.

================ ...
___________________

It's time to correct the mistake:
Truth:the Anti-drugwar
<http://www.briancbennett.com>

Cops say legalize drugs--find out why:
<http://www.leap.cc>
Stoners are people too:
<http://www.cannabisconsumers.org>
___________________

bliss -- Cacao Powered... (-SF4ever at DSLExtreme dot com)

--
bobbie sellers - a retired nurse in San Francisco

"It is by will alone I set my mind in motion.
It is by the beans of cacao that the thoughts acquire speed,
the thighs acquire girth, the girth become a warning.
It is by theobromine alone I set my mind in motion."
--from Someone else's Dune spoof ripped to my taste.

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