New addiction treatment center on Seattle’s Beacon Hill to help combat heroin epidemic

In King County, heroin overdose deaths are higher than they’ve been in 20 years. More people go to detox for heroin than for alcohol.

On Tuesday, King County Executive Dow Constantine and Seattle Mayor Ed Murray announced a new task force to fight the heroin and prescription opiate epidemic.

Constantine hopes the task force will work on training, so teachers, doctors, and nurses can help recognize the signs of addiction, instead of just first responders, like emergency room doctors and police.

Related: Father who lost daughter to heroin addiction pleads for help

County social worker Thea Oliphant-Wells knows how tough it can be to quit heroin. She’s been there.

“It’s very powerful. Even when you don’t want to use, the withdrawal is so extreme that it’s very hard to stop,” she said. “It’s something that you have to feed every day, all day, even when you’re using against your will.”

Oliphant-Wells says the county needs more treatment facilities.

“People are asking for help and we just don’t have help for everyone who needs it,” she said.

That’s part of Constantine’s plan. He and Mayor Murray announced the creation of the task force at an empty building on Seattle’s Beacon Hill. In August, it will be the home of a new, 68-bed recovery center, run by a non-profit called Valley Cities. The county will help fund it.

Valley Cities CEO Ken Taylor explains how people do make that jump to finally fight the addiction.

“It’s not at all uncommon that it’s going to take seven or eight or nine passes through the system before you get to that place where you’re truly at your personal worst,” he said.

“[Then] you finally say, ‘you know, I’ve had enough of this. I’m tired of living on the streets. I’m tired of getting arrested. I’m tired of shoplifting to support my habit. I finally want to do something about it.'”

“And when they do, that’s when we want to be there to help them,” Taylor said.

The task force will have about 30 members, including mental health and addiction experts as well as police. It will convene later this month.