Leaders take action against heroin crisis in Seattle, King County

More people are getting treatment for opiate addiction than alcohol in King County. That fact, along with skyrocketing heroin-related deaths in the region, has prompted area officials to form a task force dedicated to combating the crisis.

The City of Seattle and King County announced March 1 that they have joined forces to take on a “plague” of heroin and prescription opiate addiction throughout the region.

Heroin epidemic at root of Seattle’s homeless crisis

“Heroin use and overdoses have continued to plague King County, just like the rest of the country. And the rising use by teenagers is particularly troubling,” said King County Sheriff John Urquhart. “We must work together to find a way to reduce this killer drug.”

County officials noted that the current opiate addiction crisis is unlike previous spikes in drug use around Seattle. The heroin crisis of the 90s was mostly among certain communities within the city. But these days, heroin addiction has spread into every community in the county.

“Addiction to heroin and prescription pain killers is devastating families in every one of our communities &#8212 sparing no age, race, gender, neighborhood or income level,” said King County Executive Dow Constantine.

According to the county, opiate-related deaths have tripled since 2009. In 2014, there were 156 opiate-related deaths throughout the county &#8212 the highest number recorded in nearly two decades. The county notes that heroin is one considerable cause of homelessness, and drug overdoses are the primary cause of deaths among those experiencing homelessness.

Treatment for addiction is generally carried out in a hospital or in jail, according to the county. That will be something the task force addresses when initially meeting in March. The team is charged with developing short- and long-term approaches to the heroin issue.

The task force will include more than 30 members, such as local law enforcement, but also public health officer Dr. Jeff Duchin and Dr. Caleb Banta-Green, an epidemiologist at the University of Washington. Other experts in the group have been sourced from hospitals, the University of Washington and treatment providers.

The task force will operate in a Beacon Hill building. The building will house a 68-bed recovery center run by non-profit Valley Cities.

“I have declared a state of emergency to address homelessness, but I am told by our outreach workers and officers that hundreds of the people who live on our streets are struggling with addiction,” said Seattle Mayor Ed Murray. “If we are ever to get people into permanent housing, we must do more on chemical dependency treatment. That means asking the tough questions about how we improve our response to this national heroin epidemic and the resulting property crime and disorder.”