Spokane City Council to move forward with local drug use, possession law

Following the collapse of the state Legislature’s compromise to increase the penalties for drug possession, the city of Spokane will soon have a law of its own to fill that gap.

The particulars of that law are likely to be somewhat different than were proposed by one of Mayor Nadine Woodward’s flagship policy goals for the year introduced in April.

During a Monday committee meeting, Council President Breean Beggs introduced an ordinance that closely mirrors the legislature’s failed compromise, making drug possession a gross misdemeanor while encouraging the prosecutor to address the underlying addiction.

This version was placed onto Monday’s agenda for first reading, with a vote expected May 8. Woodward’s Safe Open Spaces Act, which had been sponsored by Councilmen Jonathan Bingle and Michael Cathcart, was deferred indefinitely.

As originally introduced, the ordinance considered Monday differed from the mayor’s proposal on several points. Under the Safe Open Spaces Act, which was first introduced before it became clear the Legislature would not be able to pass its own law, the use of illegal drugs in or visible from public spaces would be a gross misdemeanor.

In the past, public drug use cases were enforced through drug possession laws – a person seen using illegal drugs was in possession of those substances or paraphernalia.

Under Woodward’s proposal, if someone had been cited for using drugs in public, the officer could refer the alleged perpetrator to treatment but would not be required to.

The Safe Open Spaces Act would also have required officers to confiscate illegal substances and drug paraphernalia if they are found in someone’s possession, regardless of whether they were using the substance in public, which Cathcart previously said often didn’t occur because it’s “inconvenient” for officers.

The ordinance would have also modified the city’s laws against loitering in a public place for the purposes of drug use, which currently requires officers to allow possible violators to provide a legal reason for their conduct. Woodward’s proposal would scrap that requirement and make violations a gross misdemeanor.

The ordinance introduced Monday added separate sections to address the possession of illegal drugs, as well as possession of less than 40 grams of cannabis by a minor. Rather than only criminalizing public use, the ordinance criminalizes all illegal drug use, even in private residences.

As originally proposed, the ordinance would have only allowed law enforcement to cite and release suspects, not book them. But law enforcement officials had argued this would muddy the authority of police to search a suspect for contraband. Mandatory confiscation of all illegal drugs in the possession of a suspect was one of the key provisions of both the Council majority’s ordinance and the one first proposed by the mayor.

The ordinance introduced Monday would remove one section of the mayor’s proposal regarding loitering in a public place for the purposes of drug use.

“I asked Council President how many people have been charged with loitering in the last year, and it was zero,” said Councilwoman Lori Kinnear. “And we worried it would have potential for profiling.”

Beggs added that the council may address adding additional laws regarding loitering.

Woodward expressed support for the ordinance being considered Monday.

“Criminalizing drug possession and use is an important step for the public health and safety of our community,” city spokesman Brian Coddington wrote in a Monday text on behalf of Woodward. “We have a drug crisis that requires us to act locally.”