Dahlgren: Drug Decriminalization Was About Ideology, Not Public Health

Independent journalist Kevin Dahlgren describes what he witnessed while covering Washington's drug decriminalization period, saying he saw over 100 overdose deaths on the streets and helped save dozens more. Dahlgren argues decriminalization supporters were motivated more by a belief in "bodily autonomy" than by public health outcomes, and says the policy coincided with the fentanyl surge and COVID to produce what he calls a "perfect storm" of overdose deaths.