We will end the war on drugs.

 

My Proposal:

 

We will create and implement the nation's first municipal program to legalize, regulate, and tax all drugs. The war on drugs has failed. Legalization is the only way to protect the safety of our people while allowing adults to engage in an above-ground marketplace. We have learned this lesson with cannabis and now have the tools to do this even better. 

 

Too many of our community members are dying from entirely preventable overdoses due to contaminated drugs. I am going to push to have a program that is a siloed supply chain within the city that provides safe testing, while also a space to use, and on-demand treatment options. I will take the revenue from taxing regulated drug sales to fund housing, homelessness services, parks, transit, and harm reduction/treatment.

I will work with city lobbyists and legislators to write a bill that ends the state-level ban on cannabis consumption lounges. Once that is accomplished, I will pass an ordinance ensuring that all consumption club licenses in the city limits go to social equity applicants. This will not be in lieu of more retail licenses, which Seattle’s BIPOC community especially deserves, but in addition to these licenses. My office will propose a modest increase to the city’s current Title VI cannabis license fee for non-social equity license holders in order to fund zero-interest startup loans and grants for the new social equity licensees. Moreover, the estimated revenue from legal drug sales will be around $300 million annually.