Make public drug use illegal in Seattle but prioritize compassion

The Seattle Metropolis Council ought to cross a proposed ordinance prohibiting drug possession and use in public locations. However that’s not all.

This can be a complicated challenge and, like substance abuse on the whole, efficient drug enforcement and remedy defy straightforward solutions and fast options. In the end, this transfer have to be a part of a complete public well being and security effort and never an city beautification challenge that pushes these with substance use issues and psychological well being crises deeper into the shadows.

The measure proposed by Seattle Metropolis Legal professional Ann Davison was initially endorsed by council members Sara Nelson and Alex Pedersen. Andrew Lewis signaled his assist. It might carry Seattle according to state regulation handed by the Legislature in particular session, which made drug possession a gross misdemeanor but in addition supplied pathways to remedy.

A brand new Seattle ordinance is required as a result of the King County Prosecuting Legal professional’s Workplace says it’s too busy to go after misdemeanors and is as an alternative specializing in felony drug dealing and different severe crimes.

“Seattle residents, native leaders and our elected officers have made it clear that sufficient is sufficient. The epidemic of drug use on our streets have to be addressed,” stated Davison in a ready assertion. “We have to use all of the instruments accessible to us at each a State and native degree to maneuver extra folks into remedy.”

Making drug use unlawful — in a metropolis the place it’s illegal to eat liquor in a public place — would appear apparent. However there are severe issues to work out.

Seattle police are nonetheless understaffed with 949 deployable officers, down from 1,290 in 2020. The division is unable to satisfy its aim of a seven-minute response time to essentially the most severe emergency calls.

Which means cops are unlikely to spend time arresting somebody for misdemeanor drug use. SPD has up to now declined to touch upon the pending laws.

As well as, the King County Jail routinely refuses to soak up folks dealing with low-level crimes. All this implies cops will probably inform these suspected of utilizing medicine in public to knock it off or go someplace else the place they’ll’t be seen — and are extra susceptible to dying from overdose.

If the concentrate on making downtown extra pleasant to vacationers and workplace employees prompts police to focus on that neighborhood, count on to see extra consumption in Pioneer Sq., Chinatown Worldwide District, Capitol Hill and Belltown. It’s like squeezing a balloon.

For this authorized device to be efficient, Mayor Bruce Harrell and Police Chief Adrian Diaz should set clear insurance policies detailing how it will likely be carried out in the true world. Simply doing nothing isn’t a viable choice.

There are extra remedy choices on the horizon, together with the lately handed King County Disaster Care Facilities levy and a brand new stabilization hub being put collectively by the College of Washington’s Addictions, Drug & Alcohol Institute. To be totally efficient in providing folks a greater path, there ought to be 5 to 6 such amenities in Seattle alone.

Open drug use shouldn’t be given a cross or ignored in Seattle. But when the spirit of the Legislature emphasizes remedy, that ought to stay the aim, and never merely directing folks additional to the margins.