Harm Reduction

Independent journalist and Discovery Institute Senior Fellow Jonathan Choe appeared on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, September 15, to testify before the Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency (DOGE) at the invitation of Chairman Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.). The hearing was titled, “Fixing Fraud and Failure in Federally Funded Homelessness Services.” Several clips and excerpts of Choe’s videos covering the homelessness and drug addiction crisis were also presented to the subcommittee. Choe provided testimony based on his experience reporting on the homelessness crisis in West coast cities like Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. He addressed the problems inherent in low-barrier housing facilities such as high rates of assaults, theft, sexual violence, drug use, and other criminal activity that result in Read More ›

In partnership with the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced the new “Best Practices Toolkit: Addressing Homelessness and Addiction Through Treatment First.” From the press release: This first-of-its-kind resource provides communities with practical and proven strategies to help Americans transition from homelessness and addiction to recovery and self-sufficiency. This toolkit advances a “Treatment First” model that prioritizes coordinated and accountability-driven engagement in evidence-based treatment and recovery support services to ensure access to effective, comprehensive, and evidence-based care necessary for homeless individuals. “It’s a policy change many of us who have spent time on the frontlines serving the homeless have been arguing for,” Senior Read More ›

This month on “The Joe Rogan Experience,” Vice President JD Vance discussed Israel, Jeffrey Epstein, and aliens, topics that have lit up public conversation. Largely overlooked, however, were his thought-provoking remarks about America’s homelessness crisis, which highlight the harmful results of present policies in some of our largest cities and the need to enact new policies that prioritize restoring lives. Vance recalled attending an office Christmas party near Skid Row, the notorious 50-block area in downtown Los Angeles overcome by homelessness, illicit drug use, and crime. He described armed security and “gigantic walls” protecting the party. He told Joe Rogan that it reminded him of visiting the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. “Crazy wealth and status and privilege on the Read More ›

A Destructive Ecosystem The Downtown Emergency Service Center cancer is spreading across Seattle. This latest incident at DESC’s Hobson Place perfectly encompasses what’s wrong with Housing First policies and permanent supportive housing. There is an elderly woman who has to share a floor with fentanyl dealers and drug addicts. Why is this vulnerable woman living in a place like this? Was this the only option for her in the final years of her life? What responsibility does taxpayer funded DESC have in keeping senior citizens safe in their facilities? I could go on and on. Then right in front of Hobson Place, people are smoking fentanyl and partying on the sidewalk. Down the block, there is another massive tent encampment 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.”

For years, the political left has controlled the conversation around homelessness, addiction, and mental illness in most major West Coast cities. They control the nonprofits. They control the bureaucracies. They control the county commissions, the grant systems, the academic language, and most of the policy decisions. And yet the crisis keeps getting worse. That should tell us something. At some point, we have to stop judging these policies by their intentions and start judging them by their results. Because no matter how compassionate the language sounds, the outcome is obvious to anyone willing to walk the streets: more tents, more overdoses, more untreated mental illness, more open-air drug use, more crime, more suffering, and more people slowly dying in public. Read More ›

SEATTLE, WA — The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently released its 2026 grant criteria for $4 billion in homelessness funding, with a major shift toward treatment, recovery, and renewed self-sufficiency for all who are able. “Federal reforms have finally created space for local leaders to put treatment and recovery back at the center of homelessness policy,” says Discovery Institute President Steve Buri. “Real compassion means helping people reclaim stability and dignity, not leaving them trapped in addiction and illness without a path to restoration.” Discovery Institute has updated its essential policy brief, calling on local governments, Continuums of Care (CoCs), and service agencies to leverage these new federal reforms and make treatment and recovery central to Read More ›

Canceled The Seattle Public Library says there will be no more People’s Harm Reduction Alliance workshops at local branches this year. This news comes after staff with the controversial harm reduction provider got triggered by my video recording, and abruptly canceled the drug paraphernalia workshop. SPL is also responding to some of my questions about FREE Narcan needle kits being given out at the counter with easy access to kids. SPL History SPL says it has provided information about overdose prevention and resources, such as nasal naloxone, since April 2025. Naloxone Seattle & King County Public Health added intramuscular naloxone in January of this year because it is apparently cheaper than the nasal spray. Concerns About Needles An SPL spokesperson Read More ›

Harm Reduction Isn’t Cool The People’s Harm Reduction Alliance calls harm reduction supplies “crack kits.” It includes condoms and drug pipes. ZERO push by this taxpayer funded organization for treatment and recovery. PHRA is being allowed to present “how to use” trainings at the Seattle Public Library.

Exclusive The Seattle Public Library is now allowing the controversial People’s Harm Reduction Alliance to hold classes on how to properly use drug paraphernalia. The Capitol Hill library branch is also giving away free Narcan at the front desk in the form of needle kits with ZERO training and easy access to minors. Tuesday afternoon, the taxpayer funded PHRA staff got triggered and canceled an information session after they saw me recording. What are they trying to hide? Future Planned Events There are more PHRA trainings planned at the Seattle Public Library. Who’s overseeing this taxpayer funded program? Tax Levy The Seattle Public Library is also begging voters to help pass a $480 million dollar tax levy. Seattle Mayor Katie Read More ›