Fix Fact

From Radley Balko, "Death by Drug War," at The Agitator:

Washington State has a law allowing prosecutors to impose a special homicide charge on people who supply drugs to overdose victims. The problem is that the law itself may be causing more overdose deaths.

The state of Washington’s position is clear: If someone calls 911 when
a friend is overdosing, not only does the witness risk charges for possessing or
selling drugs (which 911 callers in these situations have feared since the
passage of the Controlled Substances Act), but he or she could be charged with
homicide, too. The end result? Overdose victims—who might survive with prompt
medical care—may be abandoned and left to die.

When you think about how the law would be applied, it’s far more likely to
catch teens and college kids who share illicit drugs with friends making just
such a decision than it is to catch any major drug dealer. I doubt many people
overdose with their dealers . . .

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And it makes another case for legalizing the possession and sale of drugs. There's no upside for any drug dealer, let alone a legitimized one, to let customers fix under his roof. Dope and coke ain't alcohol; fiends and base heads, they ain't Otis Campbell, coming or going, so a dealer's going to get them in and out fast, and let 'em get back to wherever they'd be, being who they choose to be, laws or no. Just with a lot less drama on the street.