Dramatic Drop in Overdose Deaths Reported, Idaho Marijuana Legalization Init Filed, More... (9/19/24)

The Democratic candidate for governor in West Virginia says legalize marijuana, the Seattle city council approves neighborhood exclusion orders for drug offenders, and more.

Drug overdose deaths declined by more than 10% in the past year. (Pixabay)

Idaho Activists File Marijuana Legalization Initiative for 2026. A group of activists known as Kind Idaho have filed a marijuana legalization initiative with state officials, aiming at the 2026 ballot.

"We are pursuing personal use and home cultivation decriminalization," Kind Idaho said Tuesday. Under the proposal, the group said, adults do not need to "register for a card, get a license to personal grow, go to a doctor to renew your prescription, and you get to choose what works best for you. You should not need permission from the state for basic self-care. "You shouldn't get in trouble over a plant."

The same group twice tried unsuccessfully to get medical marijuana on the ballot in 2022 and this year. This legalization initiative does not have any provisions for legal marijuana commerce, but instead exempts marijuana "possession, production, or cultivation" from state drug laws provided that the cannabis is for personal use, is not consumed "in any public or open setting" and is not possessed by anyone under 21.

"Nothing in this section shall be construed to allow private or commercial sale or resale of any controlled substance," it specifies, "nor transportation in quantities that exceed one ounce of plant or 1,000 mg of THC in other Marijuana derived or infused products."

To qualify for the 2026 ballot, the group needs to come up with the signatures of at least six percent of the voters who voted in the last general election. For the latest election, that figure was 62,985 signatures.

West Virginia Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Calls for Marijuana Legalization. Huntington Mayor Steve Williams, the Democratic candidate for state governor of West Virginia, has come out in support of legalizing marijuana. The state currently allows only medical marijuana.

"West Virginia has an opportunity to join the growing number of states, including Maryland, Ohio, Virginia, and Washington, DC, that have taken bold steps to legalize cannabis, and I believe it’s time we give the people a voice on this issue," Williams said. "One avenue to move forward is to put legalization on the ballot and let voters decide."

Under state law, voters could approve legalization through a statewide constitutional amendment, but that public vote would have then be approved by the state legislature.

Williams said marijuana tax revenues could fund education, health care, and infrastructure and drive new economic growth.

"We can look to states like Colorado and California, where cannabis legalization has spurred economic growth and created thousands of jobs," Williams said. "West Virginia can follow their lead to diversify our economy and attract new opportunities."

His opponent, Republican Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, said legalizing another drug is not the answer to the state’s substance use disorder crisis. Morrisey was leading Williams by a substantial margin in a poll last month.

Drug Policy

Drug Overdose Deaths Drop Dramatically. According to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), drug overdose deaths have declined a dramatic 10.6 percent in the 12-month period ending in April of this year. This is after years of increases in the overdose death toll, which reached a level of more than 100,000 a year beginning in 2021.

The decline could be even more dramatic.

"In the states that have the most rapid data collection systems, we're seeing declines of twenty percent, thirty percent," said Dr. Nabarun Dasgupta, an expert on street drugs at the University of North Carolina. Dasgupta also found steep declines in emergency room visits linked to overdoses.

"Some of us have learned to deal with the overdoses a lot better," said Kevin Donaldson, who uses fentanyl and xylazine on the street in Burlington, Vermont.

He said many users now carry naloxone and that fellow users take drugs with others nearby as a safety precaution.

In Vermont, data shows a 22 percent decline in overdose deaths this year.

"The trends are definitely positive," said Dr. Keith Humphreys, a nationally respected drug policy researcher at Stanford University. "This is going to be the best year we've had since all of this started."

Seattle City Council Approves "Stay Out of Drug Areas" Ordinance. The city council on Tuesday approved a controversial ordinance creating Stay Out of Drug Areas (SODA) aimed at cracking down on public drug use and sales. The ordinance allows judges to bar people accused of drug crimes from entering SODAs in the city core. It passed 8-1.

Critics of the measure say it will only harm vulnerable people and push the problems into new neighborhoods.

Under the SODA law, municipal court judges will be able to issue SODA zone exclusion orders to people convicted of drug possession, or charged with or convicted of assault, harassment, theft, criminal trespass, property destruction, or unlawful use or possession of weapons if the judge finds a link between that offense and illegal drug activity. City judges can't impose SODA orders on people convicted of drug trafficking because that is a felony and under the jurisdiction of the King County Prosecutor.

Violation of a SODA order would be a gross misdemeanor, punishable by a maximum of 364 days in jail and/or a fine of up to $5,000.

(This article was prepared by StoptheDrugWar.org's 501(c)(4) lobbying nonprofit, the Drug Reform Coordination Network, which also pays the cost of maintaining this website. DRCNet Foundation takes no positions on candidates for public office, in compliance with section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and does not pay for reporting that could be interpreted or misinterpreted as doing so.)