drug addiction

Exclusive After he tried to dodge me TODAY, I confronted Dr. Dat Nguyen, owner of building that could be home to controversial #Lynnwood OPIOID CLINIC. Business owners in area including his tenant are asking Nguyen to reconsider deal with Acadia Healthcare. Massive Protest After multiple pleas with @WADeptHealth, Acadia Healthcare, and even City of #Lynnwood, coalition of neighbors and community stakeholders are protesting on Saturday. This will be one of many according to organizers. They are promising a PR nightmare. Latest from DOH @WADeptHealth sent out response to community concerns over proposed #Lynnwood OPIOID CLINIC that would be few hundred feet from Alderwood Boys & Girls Club. DOH being put on BLAST by neighbors. @LynnwoodTimes about to drop more details! Read More ›

Birth of a New Movement This weekend policy makers, activists, and outreach workers from U.S. and Canada met in #Seattle to create powerful coalition confronting homelessness/addiction crisis. Responsibility of Media At this point, we all know mainstream media is NOT going to consistently cover these raw realities in Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Philly, etc. @EricaJSandberg and other independent/citizen journos now tasked to fill this huge gap. Powerful Coalition It’s evident, “housing first” is not working and is liability for politicians who subscribe to this. Just look on streets of PNW/West Coast/Vancouver BC Canada. Prioritizing solutions for drug addiction and mental illness will be key to “housing earned.”

Breaking This evening tensions flare inside and outside #Lynnwood council meeting. Residents confronting Acadia Healthcare rep telling him not to open controversial OPIOID CLINIC near Alderwood Boys & Girls Club. @WADeptHealth and state leaders also being called out. Wild! Put on Blast #Lynnwood Council Prez George Hurst personally calling out @WADeptHealth, accusing state agency of bungling communication over OPIOID CLINIC saying, “It was a deliberate attempt to tamp down public comments.” DOH will ultimately make final call on clinic. Massive Fight This evening, #Lynnwood council gave Acadia Healthcare and @WADeptHealth an out. Don’t open OPIOID CLINIC near Alderwood Boys & Girls Club. Otherwise, residents plan on launching FEROCIOUS FIGHT and it will become a PR disaster and mess for state Read More ›

Julius Caesar began his Commentaries on the Gallic Wars with a sentence that Latin students once memorized: Translated literally into English, it reads, “Gaul is a whole divided into three parts.” When delving into homelessness causes, it’s useful to keep in mind that homelessness is both a whole and a hole into which people fall for three main reasons: mental illness, alcoholism/addiction, and housing costs. Many journalists emphasize housing costs, partly because many live in expensive coastal cities. Off the coast, with the exception of a few cities like Austin, it’s different. As I learned in Flint and Pontiac, Michigan — columns to come — apartment cost is not a big factor in many cities that have lost population in Read More ›

I have encountered so many men and women along drug corridors in downtown #Seattle and Little Saigon who steal to fuel their fentanyl/”blues” habit. Tony says guys who “boost” share strategies. They know legal system is like Swiss cheese. It’s a Network There are theft rings for sure. But there’s another vicious cycle playing out on streets of #Seattle and Little Saigon. Men and women, especially homeless, admit “boosting” items from stores to sell for fraction of price.Any proceeds raised are used to buy drugs. Legos are Red Hot The “boosters” tell me popular LEGO sets like Star Wars, Marvel, Harry Potter sell immediately on the streets. Collectors come to Little Saigon to buy. It’s wild. Police know this as Read More ›

Surrounded 3rd Ave. near #Seattle City Hall getting face lift w/boards on Lyon Building today. But will it keep campers away? Tents popping up near Columbia St. Many people out here are not homeless but stay in nearby @DESCSeattle buildings. Come here to chill. Couple Weeks Ago @MayorofSeattle w/probably dozen sweeps this year on 3rd Ave near City Hall. Many of these are “trap tents.” Just set up to chill and do drugs. Worst kept secret. Thanksgiving Day Outreach Multiple faith based groups like Union Gospel Mission and Reach Ministry have been working this Pioneer Sq/downtown #Seattle corridor. So the lack of services and shelter options being offered are not the issue.

Here’s one good criticism of a book about poverty-fighting programs I wrote 23 years ago, Compassionate Conservatism: “Olasky tells about the people who have established these programs. We do not hear the stories of people who have been helped by them.” Last month I wrote about two long-term homeless people, Barry Meyer and Stephanie Creighton. Both have found help in changing their lives. Meyer has just made a down payment on a home of his own: He wrote me (and sent a photo) on October 30: “Tonight is my last night in a shelter. I’m buying this and move in tomorrow.” Here’s a story about another formerly homeless man, Jeremiah Pruitt, 38, who vividly recalls the fire that changed his Read More ›