While Washington has been consumed by debating the ins and outs of marijuana use in recent years, use of another darker drug has been on the rise. A recent Seattle Times article showed that deaths from heroin overdose were up 58 percent in our region in 2014, while deaths related to methamphetamine were up 59 percent.
As the Times reported, 314 people died last year from drugs in King County and more people are turning to drugs like heroin.
It’s clear to see the toll the drugs are taking on our city when you walk down streets and see addicts on the corner or needles on the ground. The question is, can anything be done?
Clearly, the war on drugs is not working — not in Seattle and not in the rest of the world. Large state and national policies focused on access to treatment, rather than jail time, need to be addressed.
And there are medical options that help, like needle exchange programs that offer educational tools for quitting and drugs like Naloxone, which can reverse the deadly effects of overdose. It’s available in Washington and other states, but maybe focus should be put into making it more readily available.
It will take a multi-pronged, multi-institution approach to impact drug use in our area, including treatment facilities, mental health facilities and aiding the homeless. While we have a lot of local government and grassroots services, local leaders should create pathways for these groups to work together cohesively, to make a web that doesn’t allow people to fall through the cracks. In the end, it comes down to the individuals to get help, but if they’re able to get the best services, their chances are better.
It’s easy to turn a blind eye to addiction, thinking it’s an individual’s problem, but it’s really our city and county’s crisis. Addicts can often use valuable public resources, like police, hospital and social service time. But if they’re able to get help, they can become functioning, contributing members of society once again. The possibilities to turn lives around makes it worth the effort we put in.