SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

Dori: Why can’t Seattle refuse to coddle drug vagrants like San Diego, Denver?

May 21, 2019, 6:28 AM

heroin injection sites, drug vagrants...

Needles in a pile. (FORTOP5)

(FORTOP5)

We talked a couple of weeks ago about how Denver voted overwhelmingly not to allow drug vagrants to sleep outdoors. They no doubt have seen how bad things have gotten in Seattle.

This may be another example that along with San Francisco, we may be the most radical place in the country when it comes to dealing with this drug crime plague.

Now in San Diego, they’ve passed an emergency ordinance to do what we should be doing here in the Puget Sound. The city has banned people from sleeping in their cars overnight.

Granted, with the military presence and many retirees, San Diego is a more conservative city than Seattle. But Denver is a very liberal city. They legalized marijuana at the same time that we did, and have even legalized magic mushrooms now. And even they said no, they’re not going to let people sleep in the parks or on the sidewalks.

Legit RVers must pay for Abandoned RV Disposal Fee

In the early days of the RV/drug vagrant crisis, a business owner in Magnolia provided us with surveillance video of an RV selling drugs. After buying the drugs, people would walk across the street to their cars, shoot up, and then drive away, endangering the lives of everyone with whom they shared the road. The business owner told us that despite the fact that they had video proof, the cops wouldn’t even come out to the scene.

There is no rational explanation for what has happened with political leadership around here.

I’m so tired of hearing the drug vagrants say they have “nowhere else to go.” I am sorry to be so blunt, but we provide so many tax-funded places where people can go if they want to get clean. Even if they don’t, we also provide wet houses (which I think is an insane idea). We are spending $100,000 per homeless person per year. Most of it gets eaten up by the bureaucracy of the homeless-industrial complex.

This is not about not having enough resources. This is about a lot of people who have decided that they want to make drug use and street vagrancy their lifestyle.

Smoke billows from the Plaskett Fire near Big Sur, Calif, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Nic Co...

Associated Press

2 wildfires burn along California’s scenic Big Sur coast

BIG SUR, Calif. (AP) — Fire crews with water-dropping aircraft attacked a small wildfire that prompted new evacuations Thursday along California’s remote Big Sur coast, where a much larger blaze has been burning for nearly three weeks. The Plaskett Fire erupted the previous day in steep terrain in Monterey County near Highway 1. Officials briefly […]

9 minutes ago

Seattle Police bonuses hiring incentives...

Frank Lenzi

Seattle Police Department scraps $50K hiring bonuses Sept. 1 as staffing crisis deepens

The Seattle Police Department (SPD) will no longer offer hiring bonuses as of September 1, citing budget concerns.

29 minutes ago

man killed goose...

Jack Bilyeu, KIRO 7 News

Seattle Animal Shelter looking for man who killed goose at South Lake Union

The Seattle Animal Shelter is investigating an animal cruelty case after a man killed a goose on South Lake Union.

52 minutes ago

Sound Transit Light Rail Fare Gates...

Frank Lenzi

Sound Transit approves fare gates at 14 light rail stations, eyes up to $83M in new revenue

Sound Transit plans to bring fare gates to up to 14 of its light rail stations — a move that could generate nearly $83 million a year in net revenue.

1 hour ago

brush fire SR 104...

Jason Sutich

Overnight closure likely on SR 104 after brush fire spreads to wires in Jefferson County

The westbound direction of SR 104 near Southpoint Road is blocked Thursday due to a brush fire that has spread to telephone wires.

2 hours ago

Lake Ontario...

Jake Skorheim and Spike O'Neill Show

‘It’s SHAME’: Spike rearranges Great Lakes acronym to sum up Trump’s renaming of Lake Ontario

President Donald Trump signed an executive order renaming Lake Ontario as "Lake America."

2 hours ago

Dori: Why can’t Seattle refuse to coddle drug vagrants like San Diego, Denver?