By C1 Staff
WASHINGTON — The Department of Corrections is planning to allow parolees to smoke marijuana starting next week.
The policy will permit the state’s 14,000 parolees to consume marijuana like any other citizen under the I-502, legislation passed by voters in 2012, according to KREM.
“We’re putting some changes into effect so that we won’t routinely test offenders in the community for THC,” said Annmarie Aylward, DOC’s assistant secretary. The testing for THC will stop June 1.
“There’s no way the Department of Corrections is endorsing the use of marijuana. We are simply aligning with the state law.”
Members of the CO’s union have “mixed feelings” on the change, especially when it comes to officer safety in the field.
“We know that [marijuana use] can lead to behavior changes and other problems with the folks that are on supervision,” said Bill Copeland of the Washington Federation of Employee’s corrections committee.
Judges will still be able to prohibit the use of marijuana on a case-by-case basis.