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The following is a press release for the new documentary Fentanyl: Death Incorporated. Discovery Institute’s Fix Homelessness initiative is proud to partner with filmmaker Stephen Wollwerth in the production of this documentary that explores the fentanyl crisis in depth. The documentary is produced by Senior Fellow Dr. Robert G. Marbut, Jr., the former Executive Director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness under both the Trump and Biden administrations. Senior Fellow and journalist Jonathan Choe also contributed and is featured in the documentary. San Antonio, Texas (September 24, 2024) — American citizens are the world’s top consumers of illicit synthetic Fentanyl that is often laced with other illicit drugs, including horse tranquilizers. The size of two grains of salt is Read More ›

The More We Love While King County Executive Dow Constantine continues to fail Burien, The More We Love is on the ground right now, quietly placing homeless men and women into detox and housing. “Camp Constantine” remains a cesspool of crime, drugs, and chaos. Pray for these outreach workers. The More We Love Does the Heavy Lifting What’s even more perplexing, King County hired REACH to clear out Camp Constantine. But Burien city leaders say this homeless outreach provider contacts The More We Love to do the heavy lifting, and of course Kristine Moreland obliges since her group is just trying to save lives.

Bob Ferguson Declined Invitation Earlier this year, I invited Bob Ferguson and Dave Reichert to tour Seattle’s drug dens and encampments. In my experience, the best leaders want to listen to the people on the frontlines in order to find the best solutions. Dave agreed but Bob declined.

After criticizing some scholarly articles and books, I have three books to recommend. First, here’s a tribute to 86-year-old psychiatrist E. Fuller Torrey, author of American Psychosis: How the Federal Government Destroyed the Mental Illness Treatment System (Oxford University Press, 2013). I first met Torrey in 1989 and heard about what was going wrong. Thirty-five years later, it’s even clearer that the federal panaceas have not panned out. Torrey shows how local and state charities and governments cared for mentally ill individuals, sometimes poorly but often adequately, until 1940, by which time state mental hospitals housed 423,445 individuals. During World War II half of the hospitals’ professional staff members were in the armed forces. Torrey: “The hospitals were grossly overcrowded Read More ›

The following press release for the new documentary “Behind Closed Doors” is from ChangeWA. ChangeWA and Ginny Burton are friends of Discovery Institute. Our work on homelessness is featured in “Behind Closed Doors” in an interview with our program coordinator Caitlyn McKenney. ChangeWA has teamed with filmmaker V Ginny Burton to produce “Behind Closed Doors,” a shocking 30-minute documentary which exposes the unsafe and drug-filled conditions within King County’s low-barrier housing and provides strong evidence that these are not conditions where formerly homeless individuals “can get their lives back,” as King County Executive Dow Constantine has repeatedly promised. Burton’s interviews with residents and workers from several of King County’s housing projects reveal that most residents continue to use illegal drugs, Read More ›

Exclusive In February I exposed a nightmare of drugs, crime, chaos, and death inside some of Plymouth Housing’s taxpayer funded apartments for the homeless. But their leaders ignored all my questions about accountability. So I confronted them at their annual gala and they ran. Donors Behind Low Barrier Housing Why are Amazon, Microsoft, Starbucks, Delta Dental of Washington, Pagliacci Pizza, AvalonBay Communities, Goodman Real Estate, and Brettler Family Foundation funding meth pipes and drug supplies in Plymouth Housing facilities without any requirements to get addiction treatment? Problems Plague Plymouth I’ve also obtained hundreds of 911 call logs to the newest Plymouth Housing facility in Bellevue that opened at the end of last year. Same problems including deaths, drug overdoses, and Read More ›

Culture Change At this point, there is no doubt the vast majority of Democratic lawmakers in WA support failed “Housing First” policies instead of solutions that address the root causes of homelessness like drug addiction, mental illness, and broken relationships. That’s because they just vote along party lines or are heavily influenced by the homeless industrial complex. But courageous Democratic leaders like Burien Mayor Kevin Schilling are pushing back after realizing these very same progressive policies have destroyed his community. Schilling’s willingness to cross the aisle and find common sense solutions are some of the reasons why he is now winning. Refused to Capitulate Schilling refused to capitulate to King County and Dow. This was the turning point for Burien.