Supreme Court blocks state’s simple drug possession law
By Terry Murry on Tuesday, March 2nd, 2021 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
OLYMPIA – The Washington Supreme Court has ruled the state’s law making simple drug possession a crime is unconstitutional. The ruling came in a case brought by a Spokane woman who challenged her drug conviction for possession of methamphetamine.
The woman’s challenge was upheld by a 5 to 4 vote by the high court. She contended that she was wearing pants she had been given by a friend who had bought them at a second-hand store and was not aware of the presence of the narcotic in the coin pocket of the pants. The court said it’s now unconstitutional to charge someone with simple drug possession if the drug was present unintentionally or if the person was not aware they had drugs on them.
The court overturned the drug possession statute that makes possession of a controlled substance a felony punishable by up to five years in prison plus heavy fines.
“(It) does all this without proof that the defendant even knew they possessed the substance,” the petitioner court action stated.
The written opinion by the Washington State Supreme Court is available at https://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/968730.pdf.
