Seattle mayor wants to build a homeless shelter for drug users

Seattle’s mayor is taking the idea of creating a safe place to do drugs a step further.

Mayor Ed Murray has proposed a homeless shelter that would allow, among other things, intoxicated residents, The Seattle Times reports.

The Times reports the dorm-style shelter would be similar to that of San Francisco’s Navigation Center. The Center is a pilot project that is called a “one-stop complex.” It allows people to sleep there while they try to find housing, go through rehabilitation and find employment.

Related: Seattleites get glimpse of safe injection sites

Another potential model is that of the services offered at 1811 Eastlake Ave. in Seattle, where chronic alcoholics are allowed to drink in their rooms and undergo treatment. That model, the Times reports citing a 2009 study, saves taxpayers millions of dollars.

The idea behind housing people with addiction is improving outreach. It goes further than the safe sites that have been proposed in cities such as Seattle. The sites were recently promoted in parks to inform the public of the benefits of having them.

Ashley Hempelmann, a former heroin addict, recently told KIRO Radio that a safe place to inject the drug would have helped her avoid contracting Hepatitis C.

“I wouldn’t have disposed of my needles in public receptacles or on the streets, and I probably would have gotten help a lot sooner,” she said.

Recent studies have found that more people are getting treatment for opiate addiction than alcohol in King County.

According to the county, opiate-related deaths have tripled since 2009. In 2014, there were 156 opiate-related deaths — the highest number in nearly two decades.

Other local governments have reacted as well. A proposal in Snohomish County, for example, asked voters to support an increased sales tax to help fund law enforcement and combat the drug epidemic in the area. That tax, however, was rejected.

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