MYNORTHWEST NEWS

Kathy Lambert has very different experience at injection site

Nov 22, 2017, 6:33 AM | Updated: 8:18 am

King County Councilmember Kathy Lambert took this photo while visiting the area around Insite, Vancouver B.C.'s safe injection site. (Courtesy of Kathy Lambert) King County Councilmember Kathy Lambert took this photo while visiting the area around Insite, Vancouver B.C.'s safe injection site. (Courtesy of Kathy Lambert) King County Councilmember Kathy Lambert took this photo while visiting the area around Insite, Vancouver B.C.'s safe injection site. (Courtesy of Kathy Lambert) King County Councilmember Kathy Lambert took this photo while visiting the area around Insite, Vancouver B.C.'s safe injection site. (Courtesy of Kathy Lambert)

Two King County council members left a safe injection site with very different impressions.

When Councilmember Jeanne Kohl-Welles relayed her experience at Vancouver B.C.’s Insite safe injection facility, she said she was surprised that it wasn’t the terrible, post-apocalyptic scene she thought it would be.

RELATED: Council member surprised by what she finds at injection site

Her colleague, Kathy Lambert, disagrees.

“I was appalled,” Lambert told Seattle’s Morning News. “I went in and there were bodies all over the floor. They were in various steps of being disheveled. They were everywhere. You are stepping over bodies.

“You go over to the desk and you give them your handle. It’s not your name. So there’s no way of tracking if Johnny Smith is doing better. Does he have medical issues we should be dealing with?”

RELATED: Rantz visited Vancouver’s devastating, dangerous safe-injection neighborhood

Lambert said that when she walked out the front door of the facility she saw a woman sitting on the ground shooting up three times in a row.

“I would describe the area around it as filthy, sad, depressing and officers there said that 5,000 needles are picked up there in that area every month,” Lambert said.

The council members visited two sites that day. The first was the Insite facility that many know about; the one that Lambert describes as “filthy, sad, and depressing.” The second facility was newer.

“We did go to another facility that was very clean, and very well put together,” Lambert said. “And very much involved in meeting people where they were and moving them on. However, I was very surprised about how many people had been taking drugs for so long and not moving up and out.”

RELATED: Snohomish County upholds interim ban on safe injection sites

There was no goal to get addicts sober, Lambert said. Instead, they were more concentrated on cutting down on drug use — injecting three times a day instead of five, for example.

“It’s keeping people dependent, it’s hurting their bodies, it’s continuing them in a lifestyle where they are not living up to their full potential,” Lambert said. “The hardest thing was seeing these people not having a goal of getting clean and sober. With this we need to get people clean.”

MyNorthwest News

Photo: On Monday, Mayor Bruce Harrell announced there will be 16 new preschool classrooms across Se...

Julia Dallas

Harrell’s office announces Seattle preschool slots for thousands of kids

Thousands more families will have the chance to start their children's Seattle preschool education earlier, thanks to a program launching.

6 hours ago

Digital...

Micki Gamez

How parents can help prevent children from falling victim to online sex crimes

Chances are, if your teen has a cell phone or tablet, they either know someone or they have been the victim of an online sex crime because kids as young as seven are online more than ever. My interest in this story began almost the same time last year when my daughter came home and […]

10 hours ago

Pierce County Jail...

Bill Kaczaraba

Pierce County Corrections chief at odds with the employee guild

The Corrections Bureau's Guild has issued Patti Jackson a vote of 'no confidence,' as reported by The Tacoma News Tribune.

12 hours ago

Image: A Seattle Police Department vehicle seen during the day...

Sam Campbell

Security guard stabbed, suspect barricades inside Beacon Hill apartment

SWAT officers surrounded a complex in Seattle's Beacon Hill neighborhood after police said a man stabbed a guard barricaded himself inside.

13 hours ago

seattle indecent exposure...

Frank Sumrall

Seattle man arrested for 14 counts of indecent exposure, most near schools

A 34-year-old man was arrested by Seattle police (SPD) in connection to 14 counts of indecent exposure near Lake Forest Park.

13 hours ago

Federal Way shootings...

Bill Kaczaraba

Federal Way Police say two shootings are related

Police believe two shootings in Federal Way are related.

16 hours ago

Kathy Lambert has very different experience at injection site