SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

Dori: There is nothing safe about injection sites

May 10, 2018, 6:00 PM | Updated: May 11, 2018, 10:10 am

safe injection site, insite, injection sites...

Injection booths at Insite, a safe injection site in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

(Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

A new study released yesterday by the University of Washington and King County Public Health shows that drug overdoses in King County are skyrocketing. Last year alone, 379 people in the county died of drug- and alcohol-related causes.

RELATED: We need to reclaim our language in Seattle

Now we’re finding out that there are three “underground” safe injection sites operating in Seattle, according to a report by KIRO 7. The people behind “safe injection sites” steal language again. There is no way to “safely” inject heroin.

If your three underground injection sites are solving problems, then why do we have a record number of deaths? Are you telling me the “safe” injection sites have not made the county a safer place?

If you want to stop the problem, you need to treat addiction. You need to stop building houses for homeless drug addicts and allowing people to shoot up inside them. On-demand treatment should be top priority, above housing. Helping heroin addicts and alcoholics get clean should be top priority. The record number of deaths in King County illustrates how misguided the region’s leaders are.

A record number of opiate deaths. A record number of people addicted. A record number of people on the streets. City of Seattle, you’re telling me that your policies are working?

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Dori: There is nothing safe about injection sites