Sen. Mark Mullet (D-Issaquah) issued the following statement following the Senate’s passage of SB 5536, legislation to address the state’s drug addiction crisis:

“I’m glad the Senate passed this bill in this form – I think it’ll do a lot of good for people who are struggling with drug addiction and need help. We need to give people who are in trouble the help they need and make sure our treatment programs have the resources to succeed, but we also sometimes need consequences for those who walk away from treatment or don’t engage, to help push them towards doing the right thing. This bill isn’t extreme to the right or the left – we aren’t making drug possession a felony as some asked for, nor are we legalizing drugs like some have sought to do. This is a balanced, reasonable approach that I hope the House will adopt as well.”

The bill passed the Senate with a 28-21 bipartisan vote.