Activists invaded the Seattle city council chambers during a debate on a bill that would ban the possession and use of illegal drugs in public, screaming, “You have blood on your hands!”
Presumably. drug addicts will die if they can’t light up or shoot up on city buses, where drivers report getting sick from fentanyl smoke. Or get high while lying in the middle of a sidewalk. Or overdose in city parks.
Seattle is looking to take a small step in rejoining the civilized world by making illegal drugs illegal again. Those who use or possess illegal drugs can be subject to a gross misdemeanor charge, although police will have wide latitude in how they treat the addict.
“I hope that we see a measurable increase in the number of people who are getting well, who are taking advantage of services and who are getting off the street,” Councilmember Andrew Lewis said, according to KING 5. “And I hope that we see accountability for people who are declining those services, who continue to disrupt public services on our streets by not taking advantage of them.”
There will be far more of the latter than the former. The facts about addiction don’t change whether the drugs are legal or illegal. An addict won’t seek effective help until they hit rock bottom. Addiction experts have known this for 50 years. And “diversion programs” don’t work because the state is mandating treatment, not the addict.
But not everyone is on board. There’s the ever-present concern that arresting people is fraught with racial overtones — even when it isn’t.
“The bill before us remains ineffective. It adds potential racial harm and makes false promises at a time when folks are desperate for solutions,” said Councilmember Tammy Morales, who opposed the bill. “This bill is unnecessary, dare I say performative.”
Well, activists know all about “performative solutions,” don’t they? They invented them. Regarding “false promises,” as solutions go, it’s not a bad bill. “Diversion programs” are better than nothing and may actually help some people. But the big issue here is attaching consequences for people who use or possess drugs in public. Whether it’s diversions or arrests, Seattle is experiencing an overdose crisis, and no matter how authorities get drugs out of the hands of those who might die, it’s a positive move.
And the council also took into account “quality of life” issues that had been missing from the debate over public drug use for years.
District 1 candidate and lawyer Rob Saka, who faces environmental activist Maren Costa in the race to replace Herbold when she leaves the council at the end of her term, shared a similar sentiment, saying that it is a “reasonable expectation” for families to go to city parks without seeing drug use and a “reasonable expectation” that the city would care about people dealing with addiction.
There have been 761 overdoses in King County this year from fentanyl alone. The number already surpasses last year’s fentanyl deaths, according to public health data.
No, this isn’t a silver bullet. And those advocating for the bill didn’t sell it that way. But despite being long overdue, the measure should, at the very least, be able to assist some addicts in getting the help they need.
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