There's a play the modern iteration of the Democrat Party continues to use. It's a version of the Hegelian Dialectic in which they create a problem with their policies, then offer policy solutions to the problems their previous policies created. Few pockets of Democrat lawmakers do this better than the radical leftists in Washington state.
As Jason Rantz from MyNorthwest pointed out in a recent article, the "solution" Democrats are offering to fix the drug problem they created will actually make the drug problem even worse.
As he noted in the article, SB 5536 attempts to solve their massive drug problem by giving addicts, including children, a safer place to engage in their crimes. Government agencies will even provide the materials these addicts need in order to remain addicted.
On first glance, the law seems to be heading in the right direction by at least reversing their decriminalization of personal drug use:
After the Washington state supreme court declared our felony drug possession law unconstitutional, Democrats advanced a temporary bill legalizing personal possession of all drugs. It’s directly led to a historic fatal overdose crisis. They’ve now offered a “fix” with SB 5536. It would make drug possession a gross misdemeanor with a potential maximum jail sentence of 364 days, a $5,000 fine, or both. If the addict gets treatment as part of a diversion program, they would not serve jail time.
Unfortunately, buried in the bill is something that gives it all the hallmarks of the demonic Democrats. Why try to solve a problem when you can make it worse? According to Rantz:
SB 5536 creates Health Engagement Hubs, enabling drug addicts to continue using.
The Hubs may be mobile or standalone structures and must provide opioid treatment options for addicts. But they must also provide “harm reduction services and supplies.” Harm reduction is a radical strategy that gives addicts tools to continue using their drug of choice. The supplies that will be passed out include clean syringes, crack pipes, and other “smoking equipment,” which typically includes steel wool to serve as a pipe filter, and rubber bands to wrap around the pipe’s mouthpiece to prevent burns.
By law, these Hubs must be “open to youth as well as adults.” This means that minors can access drug tools that keep them addicted.
Also buried in the bill is the creation of a “safe supply work group.”
The group is meant to “evaluate potential models for safe supply services and make recommendations on the inclusion of a safe supply framework in the Washington state substance use recovery services plan to provide a regulated, tested supply of controlled substances to individuals at risk of drug overdose.” In other words, move over drug cartels! The government could become the state’s largest illicit drug dealer.
As annoyed as I get with the current iteration of the Republican Party, their feckless endeavors are better than the pure destruction that follows Democrat policies.
