drug addiction

“There’s a Big Drug Dealer Down Here” After dozens of neighbor complaints about homeless drug addicts destroying Seattle’s Dr. Jose Rizal Park, the fencing is back up and major renovations are about to get started. But We Heart Seattle’s Andrea Suarez says the dealers and addicts are now moving further into wooded areas in Beacon Hill and the city is barely enforcing public camping laws in this area. Suarez is also calling out Seattle Parks Superintendent AP Diaz for being MIA.

Drug Addiction Overruns the City Streets Since the weekend, I have now counted more than 100 drug tents in Seattle’s Chinatown-ID and Beacon Hill neighborhoods which are next to each other. This is obviously an undercount since I can’t be everywhere. Drug addicts have also taken over Dr. Jose Rizal Park. Since outgoing Mayor Bruce Harrell has given up on the city, I am keeping a running list of encampments for Mayor-elect Katie Wilson. But it’s unclear if she will do anything about it. Btw, stop enabling these addicts by giving them free tents. The non-profits and virtue signaling Seattle residents are keeping vulnerable people on the streets. Get them into shelters, drive them to treatment, or send them home. Read More ›

Drug Addiction Run Wild Some King County Metro bus drivers say they feel unsafe and would prefer to avoid the Little Saigon stop at 12th Ave & Jackson St in Chinatown-ID. Can you blame them? Many of the passengers boarding here are criminal drug addicts and use these buses to transport stolen merchandise. It’s the worst kept secret. It’s lawless in Seattle.

Buying Fentanyl is “Cheaper than Kool-Aid” The latest drug encampment in Seattle is exploding out of control in Chinatown-ID. The entire area above the former Viet Wah grocery store on Jackson St. has repopulated with more than 20 tents. When I visited Monday afternoon, addicts were doing fentanyl and passed out. Everyone rejected offers for treatment. One guy said buying fetty was “cheaper than Kool-Aid.” The Sweeps Have Stopped I reported on this disaster last August. The city came in and cleared it. But with Mayor Bruce Harrell leaving office at the end of the year, it appears sweeps have slowed down to a halt in some instances. Housing First Has Failed Once again, this is not an affordable housing Read More ›

“We Call Every Week, But They Just Keep Ignoring” Christmas shopping is underway in downtown Seattle. But if you are looking for a good deal on stolen items, head to Chinatown-ID. Late Saturday evening, 12th Ave & Jackson St remains a total train wreck. Drug addicts are passed out in vestibules, the mentally ill are flailing in the streets, and cops are driving by without enforcing the law. The vast majority of the people admit they are not homeless. They are here to score drugs. Outgoing Mayor Bruce Harrell has failed this Asian American community after pushing “Housing First” and “harm reduction” policies that are not working. He allowed this neighborhood to turn into a containment zone and human dumping Read More ›

As Seattle considers sanctioned homeless camps again, we stand at a familiar crossroads. I’ve spent five years with We Heart Seattle doing boots-on-the-ground outreach and cleanup, alongside lived experience advisors who have worked in and managed prior sanctioned camps, including Share/Wheel, Nickelsville, Camp United We Stand, and run low-barrier shelters. We’ve seen what fails. More importantly, we know what could work. The skepticism about sanctioned camps is warranted. Past attempts became semi-permanent encampments with no path forward. But dismissing the concept entirely ignores a critical gap in our system: where do people go when they’re too unstable for housing but desperate to get off the streets? Seattle’s homeless crisis isn’t one problem—it’s many. The “crisis population” living on our streets Read More ›

Last week’s The Great Debate hosted by The Emperor’s Group and We Heart Seattle at the Washington Athletic Club was attended by hundreds of voters. And one thing was abundantly clear: Seattle’s approach to our behavioral health crisis needs immediate reinforcement. As someone working daily with the city’s most vulnerable residents, I believe we can chart a compassionate course that honors both human dignity and public safety. The solution isn’t about choosing between “Harm Reduction” drug policies and accountability—it’s about creating a comprehensive system that meets people in crisis where they are and guides them toward recovery and independence. At We Heart Seattle, our street team—composed entirely of people in recovery—connects two to three individuals to treatment every week. This Read More ›

Happening Now More than 20 homeless drug addicts are sleeping in Seattle’s Occidental Square Friday evening. If you look closer, most have brand new tents and sleeping bags. One guy says “mutual aid” comes every weekend to feed them, supply them, and offer free “harm reduction” supplies like meth pipes and fentanyl foil. Now you know why these men and women have zero incentive to get off the streets. They are treated like spoiled children. The far-left activists are essentially keeping them in their suffering instead of offering them a way out into treatment and recovery. The mayor should really know what’s happening on his streets.

More Park Closures Another Seattle Park temporarily closed because of homeless drug addicts. This time it’s Seven Hills Park in Capitol Hill. The park at the corner of E. Howell St and 16th Ave. has been cleared out more than a dozen times in the past four years.

When Mount Baker neighbors in Seattle recently documented 49 tent encampments and 5 vehicle encampments within just a few blocks of schools, transit stations, grocery stores, parks and daycare centers, they weren’t conducting an academic exercise. They were mapping a crisis that has made their neighborhood unlivable. Their experience reveals everything wrong with Seattle’s approach to homelessness and public safety. I’ve spent years cleaning camps through We Heart Seattle, and I can tell you that what’s happening in Mount Baker isn’t unique. It’s the result of policies prioritizing the appearance of compassion over actual results. The question isn’t whether clearing downtown encampments and pushing problems to neighborhoods like Mount Baker is racist—though it absolutely impacts communities of color disproportionately. The Read More ›