drug addiction

KOMO News hosted a Town Hall on Western Washington’s homelessness crisis on July 13. The Town Hall panel included Daniel Malone, Executive Director of the Downtown Emergency Service Center (DESC); Andrea Suarez, Founder and Executive Director of We Heart Seattle; Jon Scholes, President and CEO of the Downtown Seattle Association; and Dominique Alex, CEO of Mary’s Place. Among the topics discussed were the root causes of chronic homelessness, whether current policies hurt or help the problem, Housing First and harm reduction, untreated mental illness and substance use disorder, and family homelessness. While Malone of DESC repeatedly emphasized the importance of housing and the role of affordability in homelessness, Suarez strongly advocated for a “treatment first” approach in order to tackle Read More ›

The final FIFA World Cup game hosted in Seattle ended in the disappointing loss of the United States to Belgium. But for Seattle, a city so overcome by drug addiction, mental illness, and street-level homelessness, the weeks-long event was a smashing success. Downtown sparkled as it welcomed visitors from around the world for the six games it hosted at Lumen Field, rebranded Seattle Stadium for the tournament. In addition to exciting games, soccer fans enjoyed a city with noticeably cleaner streets and few visible signs of homelessness, drug addiction, and mental illness that are familiar to residents. But this is not what long-term success looks like. Mayor Katie Wilson and her team did not clean up the city. They simply Read More ›

San Francisco has experienced a dramatic 22 percent drop in unsheltered homelessness since 2024, while San Jose has seen a 23 percent decline since 2019. Streets are cleaner, and open drug scenes in San Francisco are noticeably smaller. Fewer RVs are parked near waterways in San Jose. What these two cities are doing differently than Los Angeles and Seattle can be summarized in two words: accountability and recovery. Often, when we think of the homeless, we imagine someone sleeping rough on the street, or perhaps in an RV or a car. But homelessness is defined in several ways. If you’re sleeping in a shelter, a car, or an RV, you’re sheltered homeless. If you’re in jail, you’re homeless. And depending Read More ›

At War Chinatown-ID is going to war with socialist Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson. CID leaders are now pumping out protest signs with a red X mark crossing out Wilson’s face. They say she’s dumped the city’s homeless drug addicts into their Asian American neighborhood to protect World Cup fans from secondhand fentanyl smoke and the human wreckage on the streets. I’ve got more from today’s demonstration coming up.

This Is Just the Beginning Chinatown-ID demonstrators came out in full force today, even bringing dozens of senior citizens to blast Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson. On this final day of the World Cup, they accuse Wilson of shoving homeless drug addicts into their community, costing them millions in tourism dollars. But CID organizers say this is just the beginning of their fight. Expect more protests until the mayor shows up to fix this crisis on the streets.

For more than a decade, America’s homelessness system has largely measured success by a single metric: whether someone is housed. In the process, what should have been a milestone on the journey to self-sufficiency became the destination itself. Housing is important, but making it the finish line set the bar devastatingly low for both the system and the people it serves. We now routinely confuse housing placement with transformation and occupancy with human flourishing. As a result, too many people remain trapped in addiction, untreated mental illness, dependency, and isolation, yet are counted as successes because the system measures where they sleep rather than whether they are healing, rebuilding, and moving toward self-sufficiency. This was never what most Americans envisioned Read More ›

Enough is Enough Team USA will be playing on Monday in Seattle. Expect a mega protest against Mayor Katie Wilson and the city. Chinatown-ID residents accuse Wilson of pushing homeless drug addicts into their community so downtown tourists won’t have to see the street crisis. The CID has had enough.

Historic District Neglected Chinatown-ID advocates just torched Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson, calling her a “racist” for allowing the neighborhood to devolve into a human dumping ground. Dozens of Asian Americans and their allies marched to the World Cup stadium today to say they’re missing out on invaluable foot traffic because Wilson (a WHITE woman) shoved homeless drug addicts into the CID. Here’s a quick preview. More to come.

No Enforcement Homeless drug addicts in Seattle already own 12th Ave & Jackson St in Chinatown-ID. But they’re now trying to capture the corner of 12th Ave & Lane St. Mayor Katie Wilson is MIA and has abandoned this part of the city. Humanitarian Crisis As Seattle prepares for another World Cup game this afternoon, look at the humanitarian crisis happening in Chinatown-ID just a few minutes away. Mayor Katie Wilson has pushed all the homeless drug addicts into this Asian-American neighborhood so tourists don’t have to see the carnage. That’s why community leaders are protesting the mayor this afternoon, demanding immediate change. Meanwhile, a drug addict tells me he could be a victim of tranq fentanyl. His leg is Read More ›

Independent journalist Kevin Dahlgren investigates the homeless situation in San Francisco’s Tenderloin and Mission neighborhoods. “The entire time I’ve been on the Tenderloin, I have interacted with hundreds of homeless people,” explains Dahlgren. “I have yet to encounter one outreach worker.”