Renton City Council gives final approval to Renton’s drug ordinance

Mayor Pavone asks  the clerk to conduct the roll-call vote on Council President Valerie O’Halloran’s motion to approve Renton’s new drug ordinance. The ordinance passed 7-0.  (Council Member Ruth Perez was in attendance virtually)

Renton City Council passed the second-and-final reading of Renton’s new drug ordinance last night, with all seven Council Members voting in support.  The drug law targets possession of highly addictive “hard-drugs”, like fentanyl, meth, heroine, and stolen prescription drugs, along with the paraphernalia associated with these substances.  (The law has no impact on cannabis products). The law is intended to get the user into treatment and recovery whenever possible, with the threat of jail and fines used as a deterrent to continued drug use.

The State Legislature (almost-miraculously) introduced and adopted a statewide drug law between first reading of Renton’s ordinance a week ago and Renton’s final reading last night, and the unusual circumstances left a small amount of uncertainty about what Renton Council might choose to do with their local ordinance.  I had anticipated in this blog entry on Wednesday that the city attorney would make adjustments to the Renton ordinance to align it with state law and then the adjusted ordinance would be passed; and that is what happened.

The State law gives local governments authority for controlling drug paraphernalia, which is covered by the new Renton ordinance and will play an important role in keeping parks,  sidewalks, and flowerbeds clear of discarded drug materials.  The drug paraphernalia section in Renton’s ordinance will also make it easier to confront someone who has just smoked or injected a drug; while the drug may be gone at that point, possession of the paraphernalia would be grounds for arrest and ideally the drug user’s first step in being guided toward treatment and a sobriety.

Unlike last week’s public comment period, when two-thirds of the testimony encouraged the Council to decriminalize drugs, this week’s public testimony was provided by nine community members who all supported the new Renton drug law.  There was no testimony opposed to the new law. (Decriminalization of drugs was off the table because of the new State law, but the drug paraphernalia restrictions potentially could have caused controversy). The speakers gave compelling testimony.  Most were members of Renton’s business community who have witnessed much of the suffering of the drug users first-hand, and have struggled to cope with the side-effects of drug use like crime, property damage, and discarded materials.

I was one of nine members of the community who testified last night in favor of Renton’s new drug ordinance.  (Six speakers spoke in the Council Chamber, and three were virtual)

The complete council meeting with all the public testimony can be viewed here.