Prediction for Seattle from John & Shari listener one year ago comes true

Almost one year ago, a listener of the John Curley and Shari Elliker Show — who had previously been a meth addict, had been homeless, and had committed a few crimes — made a prediction about what would happen to Seattle.

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This listener, Jeffrey, shares that he had a conversation with his mother that inspired him to live his life differently, which is eventually got him off the streets and off drugs. He is also a former Marine.

Last year, he predicted that the flow of drugs into the city would only get worse.

“Seattle City Council, from what I hear, and places like Seattle, are doing exactly the opposite of what they should be doing to stop the flow of dope into the city,” he said early in 2021. “I tell you what, the cartel and MS-13 and whoever is supplying methamphetamine, cocaine to this area, they’re going to supply it for free. They’re going to create addicts.”

Jeffrey prediction said this would happen within a year. It’s now been less than a year since Jeffrey shared his prediction, and he joined the show again to talk about the current situation in Seattle.

“How could they not think this was going to happen?” he said Tuesday.

“You saw it coming, and what you predicted was just about what’s happening now — record numbers of shootings, killings, robbery, carjacking, vandalism, homelessness, crime,” John said. “And you say all of this, a lot of this, goes back to drugs.”

“This is all dope,” Jeffrey said. “It begins and ends with dope. [King County Prosecuting Attorney] Dan Satterberg and some of these people think if we’re just nice to people and treat their problem, then they’ll be nice back and they’ll stop.”

“But the third day that you’re out of dope, if you’re an addict, you’ll do anything for a hit of dope,” he added. “I’m not kidding — you may rob somebody, you may hurt somebody.”

Shari asked what can cities do when people are unwilling to get into recovery or get off drugs?

“It’s got to be part of the incarceration,” Jeffrey replied. “I was incarcerated. I had two felony convictions, back to back. My first one, I didn’t learn. … Second time, that made an impression on me.”

He suggested that a 60-day mandatory felony sentence should include a 28-day program for release.

“Why can’t people go through drug addiction programs — a 28-day, 12-step program — while they’re in jail, and make it a condition of release?” he asked. “Loss of freedom is the number one reason that people will finally do what they want to do.”

Shari pointed out that some might argue that is going backwards, and that putting people in prison may be counterintuitive.

“First of all, you have to want to stop,” Jeffrey said about a recovery program. “No one ever forced dope on me. Every thing I did, every left turn I made, every right turn I made, I did of my own accord. … But I’m living proof that incarceration works.”

The other thing that Jeffrey credits for his own success was having people that support him.

“My mother never gave up on me. I’m married to a woman now that did not know me, was not a part of my life in that section of my life, but she helped me,” he said.

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As for the state of Seattle right now, Jeffrey is concerned it could still get worse.

“I believe this is just the beginning,” he said. “… Even if they fixed everything tomorrow, it’s already got momentum to keep going toward the bad side. They have to re-criminalize things, they’ve got to give the police teeth, and they’ve got to make Seattle a place where police want to hire onto.”

Listen to John Curley and Shari Elliker weekday afternoons from 3 – 7 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

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