Snohomish County prosecutors are giving drug users a break. They will no longer file charges in cases involving less than two grams of drugs because of a shortage of prosecutors.
County Prosecutor Mark Roe says those cases take up too much time, cost too much money and make no impact on drug addiction in the county.
Roe says his lawyers will focus on more serious crimes such as burglaries, robberies, DUIs, assaults and the myriad property crimes drug users commit.
If those crimes get worse, Roe says he will revisit the decision. He doubts that will happen.
Roes says prosecutors filed 700 more cases in Superior Court in 2017 than in 2016 with no additional resources so he can't afford to spend their time on small cases.
KING County announced on Monday, it will drop 1,500 misdemeanor drug cases for the same reason.
