We stand at an extraordinary moment in the history of our state: in two months, drugs will be decriminalized, and legal chaos will ensue. It’s easy to retreat into the typical partisan talking points and spew hate at each other, but in the end that will get us nowhere. There is a solution to the problems that led the State Supreme Court to invalidate our current drug laws, and that solution rests in the hands of those we have chosen to represent us.
Only they can build an effective policy we can all live with by doing the unthinkable: compromise. Our democracy rests on the premise that no matter how much we disagree with one another, we can come together for the greater good. Our legislators have an opportunity to demonstrate the best of our values by coming together, should a special session be called, and forging a policy that will answer this moment.
No matter what our political differences may be, this moment demands the best of us all! Our legislators can do this, for despite the divisions we battle today, we are a nation of compromise, and that part of our national identity is not lost.
Jeffrey Robinson
Walla Walla
