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ETS NEWS AND MEDIA COVERAGE

Recent national and local media coverage of Evergreen Treatment Services and our REACH and Clinic Services teams. Stay informed about efforts to address the drug epidemic, housing crisis, and issues around community justice.

Campus recovery groups support students

Campus recovery groups support students

At least half a dozen student-led groups across the state provide space to socialize and make friends in ways that don’t revolve around partying and give voice to the importance of having fentanyl test strips and naloxone readily available on campus. Read more.

Narcan Available Over-the-Counter

Narcan Available Over-the-Counter

Narcan, the first opioid overdose reversal medication approved for over-the-counter purchase, is being shipped to drugstore and grocery chains nationwide. Big-box outlets like Walgreens, CVS, Walmart and Rite Aid said they expected Narcan to be available online and on many store shelves early next week. Read more.

Rep. Adam Smith Visits ETS

Rep. Adam Smith Visits ETS

Rep. Adam Smith and Dr. Delphin-Rittmon of SAMSHA sat down at Evergreen Treatment Services for a discussion about the nationwide substance use crisis and the steps we can take at the local, state, and federal level to address this crisis. Read more.

The pandemic transformed shelter

The pandemic transformed shelter

Pre-pandemic, accessing emergency shelter in the Seattle area often meant being packed into a room with strangers on all sides. The pandemic spurred radical changes in the homeless shelter system, leading to more space, more privacy, and more autonomy for people. Read more.

What does treatment in Seattle look like?

What does treatment in Seattle look like?

The drug treatment landscape in the Seattle area is vast, ranging from low-barrier harm-reduction work to lengthy residential inpatient treatment centers. The core of substance-use disorder treatment falls into three categories: medication-assisted treatment, outpatient treatment and inpatient treatment. Read more.

Cantwell holds fentanyl roundtable

Cantwell holds fentanyl roundtable

Cantwell’s roundtable participants included Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell, the city’s police and fire chiefs, Evergreen Treatment Services CEO Steve Woolworth, University of Washington researcher Caleb Banta-Green, and a mother who lost her 20-year-old son after he bought what he thought was a painkiller that turned out to contain fentanyl. Read more.

Readers respond to outreach

Readers respond to outreach

Readers responded to a June 4 article “Outreach, Outside,” about downtown street-outreach worker Mikel Kowalcyk and the clientele she helps. Read more.

Multnomah County to pause safe smoking supplies

Multnomah County to pause safe smoking supplies

The Multnomah County Health Department was slated to provide smoking supplies to fentanyl and meth users starting this month in an effort to dissuade them from using needles to inject the drugs, which can lead to more potent, fatal doses and the spread of diseases. Read more.

Encampment clearings receive mixed results

Encampment clearings receive mixed results

A majority of Seattleites say they approve of the city’s increased clearing of homeless encampments in the past few years, based on a June poll. But they are less enthusiastic on how successful this approach is. Read more.

Harsh New Fentanyl Laws Ignite Debate

Harsh New Fentanyl Laws Ignite Debate

To many public health experts, the tough new fentanyl laws seem like a replay of the war-on-drugs sentencing era of the 1980s and 90s that responded to crack and powder cocaine. They worry the result will be similar: The incarcerated will be mostly low-level dealers, particularly people of color, who may be selling to support their own use. Read more.

Treatment access in King County

Treatment access in King County

DCHS, Public Health, and many community providers are working to increase access to life-saving medications such as methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone. These medications can reduce the risk of overdose and reduce the recurrence of opioid use by stabilizing withdrawal symptoms and cravings. Read more.

Walk the beat with REACH

Walk the beat with REACH

Longtime REACH worker Mikel Kowalcyk is intimately familiar with downtown blocks, and describes them as a kind of bog. “People get stuck there,” she says. “Because that’s where the drugs are. It’s a community of people using together. And as a city, we’ve never had the resources we need to assist them.” Read more.

Extreme heat shelters

Extreme heat shelters

Due to extreme heat, with temperatures in the 80’s and potentially higher, KCRHA is activating Severe Weather Response protocols in Seattle from Saturday, May 13 through Monday, May 15. Read more.

Behavioral Health Crisis Care Centers Act Introduced

Behavioral Health Crisis Care Centers Act Introduced

Representative Adam Smith (D-Wash.) introduced the Behavioral Health Crisis Care Centers Act, which would provide grant funding for states, cities and counties, and tribal governments to build and expand crisis stabilization services with housing assistance and other wrap around services. Read more.

Drug possession laws uncertain

Drug possession laws uncertain

The Washington House voted down a last-minute deal to maintain a criminal penalty for drug possession and boost funding for treatment on the final day of the legislative session, leaving the state’s drug laws in question. Read more.

Era of mass incarceration winds down

Era of mass incarceration winds down

Decades of mass incarceration have resulted in a prison population growing older and more enfeebled, and has introduced the challenge of reintegrating people coming out after long sentences, often with few skills, into a society that technology has made alienatingly unfamiliar. Read more.

What to know about Narcan

What to know about Narcan

This month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved selling Narcan without a prescription, a victory for longtime advocates calling on the agency to make the lifesaving drug more accessible. Read more.

Transformative waterfront park to be completed in 2025

Transformative waterfront park to be completed in 2025

“The decision to build the tunnel provided the city with an opportunity to reclaim and connect downtown to our waterfront. The goal of this program is to create a waterfront for all, for people of all walks of life to enjoy,” said Angela Brady, waterfront program director of the City of Seattle. Read more.

King County is on Pace for a Record Year of Overdose Deaths

King County is on Pace for a Record Year of Overdose Deaths

Tricia Howe, who directs an outreach program for drug users at REACH, Evergreen Treatment Services’ homeless outreach program, had firsthand experience of King County’s overdose crisis earlier this summer. In a matter of weeks, there were two overdoses outside REACH’s Belltown office. Read more.

Her son was addicted to heroin and died by suicide. He’s not alone

Her son was addicted to heroin and died by suicide. He’s not alone

People with substance use disorders have a significantly heightened risk of suicide. Compared with the general population, risk of suicide is about 14 times higher among people addicted to heroin and prescribed opioids and about five to 10 times higher among those dependent on alcohol or meth. The statistics are staggering, experts agree. And yet they likely underestimate the overlap between addiction and suicide. Read more.

Successful end to Dearborn encampment

Successful end to Dearborn encampment

A six-week effort to remove a homeless camp may become a model for other efforts to help people off the streets in King County.

Until a few days ago, the encampment at S Dearborn St and I-5 had been a source of crime and neighborhood concerns. However, a collaborative, multi-agency approach managed to bring just about everyone inside. Read more.

Something Better Than a Tent for the Homeless

Something Better Than a Tent for the Homeless

The needs of homeowners and businesses and those of people who are unsheltered often conflict. Community leaders, faced with increasing crime and disorder, frequently see police sweeps as the only answer, while advocates for homeless people argue that this response is merely a stopgap that does more damage than good. Read more.

America’s Homelessness Crisis Is Getting Worse

America’s Homelessness Crisis Is Getting Worse

America’s homelessness problem has the makings of an acute crisis. Shelters across the U.S. are reporting a surge in people looking for help, with wait lists doubling or tripling in recent months. The number of homeless people outside of shelters is also probably rising, experts say. Some of them live in encampments, which have popped up in parks and other public spaces in major cities from Washington, D.C., to Seattle since the pandemic began. Read more.

Consistently hot temperatures take toll on Seattle’s most vulnerable people

Consistently hot temperatures take toll on Seattle’s most vulnerable people

Much of the low-income and public housing in Seattle is older, made of concrete or brick, and lacks air conditioning. After four days of temperatures reaching 90-plus degrees, some people who live in the affordable housing building, Pacific Apartments in Pioneer Square, and the outdoors are feeling the impact. They have fewer means to escape the effects of extreme heat and are more likely to have weakened immune systems. Read more.

Pandemic overdose deaths spiked among people of color

Pandemic overdose deaths spiked among people of color

Overdose death rates in the U.S. increased dramatically in 2020 as the Covid-19 pandemic arrived, especially among Black, American Indian and Alaska Native individuals, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as deadly synthetic opioids flooded the nation and access to treatment remained elusive for millions of Americans. Read more.

Clean-up of notorious Green River homeless encampment

Clean-up of notorious Green River homeless encampment

On July 13, the King County Road Services Division will begin clearing garbage and debris that has accumulated on a section of Green River Road between Kent and Auburn in unincorporated King County. This comes after a recent three-day effort by King County, the King County Regional Homelessness Authority, and non-profits, including the Salvation Army, REACH, and Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission, ending on Saturday, to reduce the number of individuals experiencing homelessness living at the encampment and connect them with shelter and services. Read more.

JustCARE model finds a new path forward, but with a twist

JustCARE model finds a new path forward, but with a twist

Days before funding was set to expire on a politically popular homelessness program, the King County Regional Homelessness Authority and the city of Seattle finalized a deal to continue the work of JustCare, a pandemic-born outreach and shelter program, and to prevent around 60 homeless clients from losing their shelter. Read more.
Arresting Unhoused People Doesn’t Fix Homelessness. Police Do It Anyway.

Arresting Unhoused People Doesn’t Fix Homelessness. Police Do It Anyway.

This is a tension that’s playing out across West Coast cities, as the combination of a mental health crisis and a decade long real estate boom have created a new, especially vulnerable, especially visible generation of the unhoused. They’re “unsheltered,” meaning they live in cars, tents and makeshift shelters on the streets, rather than in shelters. Over the decade between 2009 and 2019, unsheltered homelessness continued to grow in California, Oregon and Washington, even as it declined in major cities outside the West Coast. And as the unsheltered increasingly live on streets in residential neighborhoods, their new neighbors have turned to one place for help in particular: the police. Read more. 

Crime and community define one of downtown Seattle’s most complex areas

Crime and community define one of downtown Seattle’s most complex areas

The particulars have changed, as has its center of gravity: First Avenue to Second to Third. Its name also shifts, depending on who’s talking about which decade. Old-timers recalling the 1960s say “Skid Row.” Needle-exchange workers from the ’80s talk about “Penney’s Corner” (after a nearby JCPenney). To Deputy Seattle City Attorney Scott Lindsay, it’s “3P” (for Third and Pike/Pine). In 1990, an article about crack cocaine by Seattle Weekly writer Eric Scigliano reported that dealers were calling it “The Blade.” That name stuck.

Whatever you call it, the overall milieu has tremendous sticking power — despite gentrification and repeated police interventions. Read more.

Washington food banks test innovations as food insecurity grows

Washington food banks test innovations as food insecurity grows

On a recent Friday, Soledad Brown, a volunteer at the Rainier Valley Food Bank, was grateful for a day without rain. A line of 30 or 40 people wound around the building and into the parking lot as customers waited for bags of groceries. “Yesterday I got drenched,” Brown said. “I always try to brighten everyone’s day.”

A former client of the South Seattle food bank, Brown has been an energetic presence here for three years. She takes two buses and the light rail from Des Moines every weekday to help distribute food and make patrons feel welcome. Brown said she has noticed that demand for food hasn’t declined this year. Even as businesses reopen, and the state’s unemployment level is back down near 4%, the need for food assistance remains high. Read more.

HUD unveils plan to help people with a criminal record find a place to live

HUD unveils plan to help people with a criminal record find a place to live

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is working to make it easier for people with a criminal record to find housing – a move that could have widespread implications for nearly 1 in 3 Americans.

In a memo sent out to staff on Tuesday, HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge instructed the department to review programs and policies that may “pose barriers to housing for persons with criminal histories or their families.”

Fudge told staffers they have six months to propose updates and amendments consistent with the directive to “make our policies as inclusive as possible.” Among the many things HUD staffers will be looking into are guidance documents, model leases and other agreements.

Some federal laws ban people convicted of certain crimes from accessing publicly funded housing programs, including anyone convicted of methamphetamine production on the premises of federally assisted housing, lifetime registered sex offenders and people convicted of drug possession. Read more.

Six states don’t have needle exchange programs—what it means for harm reduction efforts

Six states don’t have needle exchange programs—what it means for harm reduction efforts

Injection drug use across the United States is increasing as the misuse of prescription and synthetic opioids rages on.

Many people who misuse drugs choose to inject because it delivers a faster, more intense high. But this method of delivering drugs into the body, particularly for people who share needles or syringes, also comes with an increased risk of transmitting bloodborne diseases like hepatitis and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

According to the CDC, sharing syringes is the second-riskiest behavior for contracting HIV. Injection drug use is the most common way that hepatitis C is transmitted, and infection rates have been increasing, especially among younger populations. More than 40% of people between the ages of 18 and 29 have reported sharing syringes, and according to the most recent report from the CDC, hepatitis C infections were highest among people in this same age bracket, peaking at age 29.

To help slow the spread of injection-related infectious diseases, many states have implemented syringe service programs (SSPs), also referred to as syringe or needle exchange programs. These programs offer safe disposal of used syringes, access to sterile needles and syringes, vaccination and testing, and substance use treatment resources. Read more.

Harm reduction lays a groundwork for recovery

Harm reduction lays a groundwork for recovery

For more than 25 years, Dwight struggled with cocaine use. In 2013, after repeated offenses, a police officer referred him to Seattle’s Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion program, saying, “I have an amazing program that’s going to support you.”

LEAD is a unique coalition of law enforcement agencies, behavioral health providers, prosecutorial partners and community groups. In LEAD, Dwight decided he wanted to stop using. He was referred to a case manager at REACH, an arm of Evergreen Treatment Services. REACH’s team of social workers, nurses, chemical dependency specialists and case managers builds relationships with people experiencing homelessness. Read more.

Advocates hope to reduce stigma amid surge in drug overdose deaths

Advocates hope to reduce stigma amid surge in drug overdose deaths

SEATTLE — Now a licensed clinician and recovery advocate, Marcos Sauri embarked on his own recovery journey years ago. On the other side of addiction, Sauri is driven to help everyone he can find hope for their own futures.

“I was a heroin addict, and at a young age I knew I had a problem and I had an opportunity to be given a second chance,” Sauri said. “Not by my choice, but I ended up at a place where they gave me the help and I never left. I volunteered, they sent me to school, it wasn’t my choice that I wanted to be in the business, in the field, but’s how I ended up here.”

Sauri said most people don’t understand that it’s not always as easy as waking up and choosing to stop using. Read more.

US: Discrimination based on opioid treatment violates law

US: Discrimination based on opioid treatment violates law

A deepening opioid epidemic is prompting the U.S. Department of Justice to warn about discrimination against those who are prescribed medication to treat their addictions.

In guidelines published Tuesday, the department’s Civil Rights Division said employers, health care providers, law enforcement agencies that operate jails and others are violating the Americans with Disabilities Act if they discriminate against people for taking prescription drugs to treat opioid use disorder. Read more.

‘Tough’ decisions as county authority, Seattle diverge over approach to downtown homeless camps

‘Tough’ decisions as county authority, Seattle diverge over approach to downtown homeless camps

In February, the City of Seattle and the King County Regional Homelessness Authority (KCRHA) announced a joint initiative with a collection of local businesses to stand up a new program known as “Partnership for Zero,” created to provide end-to-end outreach to people in downtown homeless camps. Just a month later, though, there’s been a significant divide between the city and the KCRHA’s shorter term priorities as the pace of encampment clearances has accelerated. Read more.

Highline College awarded $232,500 for new certificate to help those living homeless in hotels

Highline College awarded $232,500 for new certificate to help those living homeless in hotels

Catholic Community Services will work with Plymouth Housing, Downtown  Emergency Services Center (DESC), Chief Seattle Club, Evergreen Treatment Services REACH program and Mary’s Place to connect individuals who are homeless and already living in hotels throughout South King County with the college. Once enrolled at Highline, students will be able to earn the certificate in one to three quarters. The certificate is a combination of Human Services and Hospitality & Tourism Management courses that prepare students to work in hotels that do and do not serve those without permanent housing. Read more here.

A Rising Death Toll

A Rising Death Toll

Drug overdoses now kill more than 100,000 Americans a year — more than vehicle crash and gun deaths combined. Sean Blake was among those who died. He overdosed at age 27 in Vermont, from a mix of alcohol and fentanyl, a synthetic opioid. He had struggled to find effective treatment for his addiction and other potential mental health problems, repeatedly relapsing. Read more here.

King County homeless shelters left to deal with omicron mostly on their own

King County homeless shelters left to deal with omicron mostly on their own

Public Health couldn’t staff every room in the hotels and the bar to get into one of the beds rose. Staff at homeless nonprofits, who’d struggled in the past to get people into isolation and quarantine, found it even harder. Some said they spent hours trying to get one or two people into isolation and quarantine rooms, to no avail.

“I count out I and Q. That’s not even an option,” said Dawn Whitson, a system coordinator for Evergreen Treatment Services’ homeless outreach arm, in mid-January. “I won’t waste my time with it until I hear something back from Public Health [about the guidelines]. They’re very time-consuming and I won’t even try.” Read more here

New King County homelessness authority kicks off with $170M budget

New King County homelessness authority kicks off with $170M budget

The new government agency in charge of Seattle and King County’s regional homeless response is finally up and running. But the King County Regional Homelessness Authority doesn’t plan to simply streamline business as usual. It’s bringing a new philosophical and practical approach to homeless service work that will affect everyone from the cities involved to service providers to people on the street. And that change is making some people nervous. Read more here. 

Meet Opioid Treatment Expert Jim Anderson, MPAS, PA-C, DFAAPA

Meet Opioid Treatment Expert Jim Anderson, MPAS, PA-C, DFAAPA

Clinical Advisor highlights Jim Anderson, MPAS, PA-C, DFAAPA, a PA of 21 years who works at Evergreen Treatment Services Opioid Treatment Program, Seattle, WA. Anderson is the current president of the AAPA Society of PAs in Addiction Medicine and also holds the commissioner position on the Washington State Medical Commission. Read more here. 

partners discuss new model of encampment removal

partners discuss new model of encampment removal

Councilmember Dan Strauss (District 6 – Northwest Seattle) and a coalition of homelessness service providers (including REACH), city officials, business leaders and others highlight their successful work to offer people residing at Ballard Commons Park appropriate shelter and a path towards permanent housing.

Since August, Councilmember Strauss has worked to bring together a host of community members, city departments, and service providers to coordinate a robust response that ensured people living in the park were offered the support they needed, including 24/7 enhanced shelter with wraparound onsite services like case management and housing navigation. Learn more here.

Seattle’s Crisis Response

Seattle’s Crisis Response

Seattle is trying to improve public safety by changing its approach, in the aftermath of calls for police reform and racial justice. From moving its 911 call center to a new department to creating new behavioral health teams, the city is investing in community-centered solutions in its crisis response. Staffing shortages and a social services system that’s overwhelmed are making the new effort challenging. Learn more here.

Methadone Take-Home Program Extended Through 2022

Methadone Take-Home Program Extended Through 2022

“Methadone is totally unrestricted in its use for pain, which is completely backward as most of the morbidity and mortality from methadone comes from very uninformed prescribing for pain,” commented Jim Anderson, MPAS, PA-C, DFAAPA, an addiction medicine expert who works at Evergreen Treatment Services Opioid Treatment Program in Seattle. The stigma drives the restrictiveness of methadone prescription for the treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD) “is indeed a reflection of the discriminatory and prejudicial beliefs about both OUD patients and OUD clinics,” he said.  Read more here. 

SEATTLE’S WETTEST FALL HITS UNSHELTERED PEOPLE HARD

SEATTLE’S WETTEST FALL HITS UNSHELTERED PEOPLE HARD

“People don’t identify themselves as being vulnerable to some severe weather situations that we may see coming up,” said Chloe Gale, co-director of the outreach program REACH. “It takes some time and effort to help them figure out what are they really going to want.” Read more here.

 

When a Homeless Encampment Was Cleared

When a Homeless Encampment Was Cleared

“We’re like a family,” he said. “We depend on each other.”

Yvonne Nelson, the outreach worker who offered Jordan and his friends shelter, doesn’t blame them for their reluctance. Sometimes all Nelson can do is offer whatever shelter space happens to be available on the day. The abrupt timeline of the I-90 encampment clearing, which was announced only two days beforehand, didn’t give her the time to find accommodations that better fit the encampment’s needs. Read more here. 

Redmond Mayor Speaks Out

Redmond Mayor Speaks Out

Redmond Mayor Angela Birney on Wednesday defended her support of a controversial plan by King County to transform a former motel into a homeless shelter despite objections from some residents who have expressed concern about how it will affect the neighborhood. In an interview with KOMO News, Birney, who is also a member of the King County Regional Homelessness Authority, said she is fully behind the project at the former Silver Cloud Inn. Read more here.

HOPE Team Releases Mid-Year Report

HOPE Team Releases Mid-Year Report

Q2 data shows the most shelter referrals and enrollments ever recorded by the Human Services Department…. “The HOPE Team has made tremendous strides standing up this new model and approach to supporting those living unsheltered in Seattle,” Tess Colby, HSD’s Interim Deputy Director on Homelessness, writes in the report. “Their collaborative efforts with outreach and shelter providers, City departments and community, have resulted in hundreds of people moving from encampments to safer spaces and on a pathway to ending their experience of homelessness.” Read more here. 

“Eco Blocks” Are Concrete Signs of Seattle’s Failure to Address RV Homelessness

“Eco Blocks” Are Concrete Signs of Seattle’s Failure to Address RV Homelessness

Homeless service providers say the suspension of the rule had positive effects for vehicle residents, who didn’t have to deal with the daily stress of finding another place to park. “It was nice for them to have a reprieve where they didn’t have to move every 72 hours, where they could be in place and connect to service providers from one location and get more accomplished,” said Rebecca Gilley, the SoDo outreach coordinator for the homeless outreach group REACH. Read more here.

Who Was Most Harmed During Seattle’s Heat Wave?

Who Was Most Harmed During Seattle’s Heat Wave?

One of the 13 people who died is presumed to have been homeless, according Public Health.

That 11% likely undersells just how precarious the situation was for people without stable housing, outreach workers say. Becky Gilley normally does outreach to eight large encampments in the SoDo area with REACH, but she was able to visit only one and a half during the heat wave. What she saw were people pouring sweat, so much so that she suspected widespread heat exhaustion. Read more here. 

JustCARE Model Successful in Moving Homeless Neighbors into Shelter

JustCARE Model Successful in Moving Homeless Neighbors into Shelter

Councilmember Andrew J. Lewis (District 7 – Pioneer Square to Magnolia), service providers and members from the business community announced the publication of a University of Washington study demonstrating the effectiveness of the JustCARE model, and provided a tangible example of how 33 individuals experiencing unsheltered homelessness on 3rd Avenue downtown were connected with appropriate shelter by JustCARE and voluntarily accepted. Read more here.

Seattle’s Homeless People Spiral Further Into Crisis

Seattle’s Homeless People Spiral Further Into Crisis

The treatment system has never been particularly helpful to people grappling with mental illness, addiction and homelessness, but the shift to telemedicine and virtual treatment has laid bare that divide, according to Kim Powers, a referral coordinator at Evergreen Treatment Services’ homeless outreach arm, who has worked in the system for more than 20 years.

“If you’re living homeless, you may have to move. You may have changed your mind. You may decide that treatment isn’t right for you right now,” Powers said. “So to be able to capture them at the moment they want help is not the way the system is set up.” Read more here. 

The Pandemic Split The Homeless System In Two. A Year Later, The Differences Remain Stark.

The Pandemic Split The Homeless System In Two. A Year Later, The Differences Remain Stark.

Many people living outdoors are now almost entirely separated from the county’s homeless services system. Of 78 people living at one encampment located beneath an overpass in the Chinatown International District last year, just 40 were currently enrolled in the county’s homeless services data system, according to information collected by outreach workers.

The same outreach workers see another dynamic in the county data.

“That plunge [in households receiving services through the homelessness system] is an indicator that all of the services supporting people living outside shut down,” said Chloe Gale, co-director of REACH. “Their numbers dropped because there were no services left.” Read more here.

Native Homeless Service Nonprofits Protest New Seattle Outreach Contracts

Native Homeless Service Nonprofits Protest New Seattle Outreach Contracts

Chloe Gale, co-director of city-contracted outreach team REACH, said outreach workers should be part of the discussions on how encampments are prioritized by the city. She also shares similar concerns to the letter writers that some of the city’s new daily data collection requirements would take away from their other work.

“We want the decision-making table where the outreach strategies and the concerns of the people living at the site and their needs are also part of the consideration of how and when encampments get responded to,” Gale said.  Read more here.

Top Doctors 2021: Battling Addiction

Top Doctors 2021: Battling Addiction

Dr. Paul Grekin of Evergreen Treatment Services has been working with patients for three decades.
Helping people with substance use disorder is as rewarding to me today as it was when I started 30 years ago. It is a privilege to work with people as they embrace the arduous struggle to regain control of their lives, and the interaction between the brain, childhood development, trauma, social factors, politics and psychoactive compounds never fails to fascinate me.  Read more here.  
A Holistic, Whole-Person Approach To Treating Substance-Use Disorder

A Holistic, Whole-Person Approach To Treating Substance-Use Disorder

Heather Barr has worked in the health sciences and social services sectors in King County for more than 30 years, often in connection with marginalized, homeless or incarcerated populations and people struggling with substance-use disorders.

Substance-use disorder never occurs in a vacuum, Barr says, but is part of a much larger medical, social and behavioral picture. The most effective way to treat it is a holistic approach that considers the whole person and all their circumstances, including housing issues, physical/mental health and overall security and well-being. Read more here. 

Can King County Keep Using Empty Hotels To Fight Homelessness?

Can King County Keep Using Empty Hotels To Fight Homelessness?

JustCARE is one of a number of efforts that have emerged in the pandemic, determined to make the most of a dormant tourism industry on behalf of people living outside. Last March, King County purchased or leased five hotels. They included the Renton Red Lion, which houses around 230 clients from the Downtown Emergency Service Center, and a hotel in SeaTac run by Catholic Community Services and housing about 100 people. For its part, JustCARE is a separate effort, but with county funding, led by the Public Defender Association and in coordination with Asian Counseling and Referral Service and the Chief Seattle Club. The program also works with the organizations REACH and Wheeler Davis on outreach and community safety. About 130 people have moved into hotels thanks to JustCARE. Read more here.

Drug abuse is a public health issue, not a criminal one

Drug abuse is a public health issue, not a criminal one

Ron Jackson, clinical professor of social work at UW, became more aware of the immense need for drug addiction treatment during his time as executive director of Evergreen Treatment Services, a Seattle-based substance abuse rehabilitation facility, before he began at UW.

“Their approach in the Oregon initiative and the Washington model is… not a free pass for people that are struggling with substance use disorders,” Jackson said. “[It’s to] get referrals for treatment and housing and other kinds of things to help them stabilize their lives.” Read more here.

Mysteriously, COVID-19 hasn’t spread among Seattle’s outdoor homeless population.

The Seattle Times

Mysteriously, COVID-19 hasn’t spread among Seattle’s outdoor homeless population.

When more than a dozen people tested positive for the coronavirus at a homeless camp in South Park in July, despair set in.

“How long do I have to live?” Kenny Palazzo asked his case manager, Dawn Whitson, when he tested positive. Whitson, who works for REACH, the outreach arm of a local nonprofit drug treatment provider, told him he would most likely live, but he needed to isolate in a hotel and quarantine. Read more here.

Council members, Mayor’s Office reach tentative deal on homeless outreach

Council members, Mayor’s Office reach tentative deal on homeless outreach

Chloe Gale, co-director of the city-contracted outreach program REACH, said she was glad the council and the Mayor’s Office were working together. While the Navigation Team was still conducting encampment removals and shelter referrals, REACH staffers had raised concern about people accessing shelter beds through the team and having to compete for limited resources.

“I think we can do a better job of responding on the street in a more coordinated way, but it’s really the first step and we have to keep working on places for people to go,” Gale said. Read more here.

Homeless Camps Growing In Seattle

KOMO News

Homeless Camps Growing In Seattle

Outreach workers said there has always been a limited supply of shelter housing to move people into, but under COVID and social distancing shelter space is at an absolute premium.

“We have not seen an increase in the number of shelter beds available and so the turnover rate is very low, people want to stay inside if they have a safe place,” said REACH co-director Chloe Gale. Read full article here

 

 

Let’s fund what works to help Seattle’s homeless

Seattle Times

Let’s fund what works to help Seattle’s homeless

“Defunding the Nav Team and fully funding localized outreach with skilled teams is not a silver bullet and will not immediately solve the homelessness crisis. But, paired with dramatic investments in affordable and supportive housing, we may have a real shot at lasting change. Let’s invest, and invest big, in what’s working to end homelessness once and for all.”

Pros and cons of disbanding Seattle’s Navigation Team

KUOW

Pros and cons of disbanding Seattle’s Navigation Team

“Sending police officers really sends a signal that they’re actually criminals. What we want to do is send actual social workers who understand their experiences, who often have had lived experience themselves, and are really respectful, and know how to build trusting relationships to help move people to change.” Read more to find out what REACH co-director, Chloe Gale, has to say about defunding SPD’s Nav Team.

Seattle budget changes may upend the city’s response to homeless encampments

KNKX

Seattle budget changes may upend the city’s response to homeless encampments

Our REACH team pulled out of the sweep efforts of Seattle’s Navigation Team a year ago, as “the team was overly focused on clearing encampments and moving people into shelters when that’s not the best option for everyone.” Case managers could not form trusting relationships with their homeless clients when they were followed by officers forcing relocation of encampments. Our community needs to fund programs that can build trust with our most vulnerable, not fear.

Seattle City Council votes to defund team that removes homeless encampments, in victory for activists

Seattle Times

Seattle City Council votes to defund team that removes homeless encampments, in victory for activists

Victory! After years of activism and prolonged demonstrations in support of defunding Seattle Police, city-council has made the historic vote of dissolving the Navigation Team responsible for forcibly driving out homeless community members from their encampments. We support solutions that get to the root of chronic homelessness and provide these members of our community with proper services.

Seattle’s arrest alternative, LEAD, moves beyond police

Crosscut

Seattle’s arrest alternative, LEAD, moves beyond police

As highlighted in the past, our LEAD program participants have “60% lower odds of arrest for six months after their first arrest and 39% lower odds of catching a felony case over the next two years.” With protests in the area showing large support for a shift to community-led programs in response to 9-1-1 calls on cases of homelessness, mental health, drug use, and sex work, find out how allocating funds away from the police and to programs like ours will make our communities safer for all.

Seattle protest leaders call for defunding and dismantling police. What would that look like?

The Seattle Times

Seattle protest leaders call for defunding and dismantling police. What would that look like?

Our REACH case managers connect members of our homeless communities with the programs and services they need to enjoy a happy and healthy life. With support from protesters calling for city funds to be diverted from the police to programs like ours, we can show “how it might be possible to lean less on police” and in turn keep our communities even safer by providing sympathetic treatment to our most vulnerable. Read more about us and other ways Seattle protesters are suggesting using diverted police funds.

The War on Drugs in Washington Is Over, If You Want It

The Stranger

The War on Drugs in Washington Is Over, If You Want It

The Stranger highlights our successful LEAD program as participants have “60% lower odds of arrest for six months after their first arrest and 39% lower odds of catching a felony case over the next two years.”

Temporary shelter and promises of coexistence are expiring in Ballard and Renton

Real Change News

Temporary shelter and promises of coexistence are expiring in Ballard and Renton

“The Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion program (LEAD) also moved clients into hotel rooms during the coronavirus crisis. Many have decided to enter treatment programs, said Melodie Reece, a project manager with LEAD.” 

The stability that hotel housing has provided has brought many clients to pursue medication-assisted treatment, a process that requires consistency. This consistency and safety are threatened as housing provisions are set to expire.  

“It feels like you’re in a boat trying to paddle through a hurricane”

KUOW

“It feels like you’re in a boat trying to paddle through a hurricane”

REACH outreach care coordinator, Dawn Whitson explains the added layers of difficulty navigating the COVID-19 pandemic for her clients experiencing homelessness. As she continues to bring food from food banks, deliver clothing, and connect them to medical care, her concerns for their well-being continues to rise.

Mayor Durkan responds to proposed payroll tax

KUOW

Mayor Durkan responds to proposed payroll tax

In this KUOW interview, Mayor Jenny Durkan responds to Dawn Whitson, REACH outreach care coordinator’s concerns over not having enough shelter spaces, and the need to use hotels to distance people.

In Seattle, Early Help for Homeless Residents During the Coronavirus Outbreak

Frontline

In Seattle, Early Help for Homeless Residents During the Coronavirus Outbreak

“Rumors and misinformation can spread like viruses too, and they can be just as difficult to contain. Dawn Whitson, one of the social workers with REACH…explained that martial law hadn’t actually been imposed.” Our REACH team is bringing information and services to our clients outside. Check out this Frontline article to learn more about outreach efforts in Seattle during the pandemic.

People in addiction treatment are losing crucial support during coronavirus pandemic

Washington Post

People in addiction treatment are losing crucial support during coronavirus pandemic

“In Seattle, the nonprofit Evergreen Treatment Services set up a mobile dispensary — a customized van — in the parking lot of its largest clinic to give opioid medications to symptomatic patients. Group counseling has temporarily been suspended; counselors are talking to patients by phone.” Check out this Washington Post article on the evolving needs of addiction treatment facilities, with our CEO, Steve Woolworth quoted inside.

Opioid treatment in King County jails can reduce crime and suffering

Seattle Times

Opioid treatment in King County jails can reduce crime and suffering

“Now, a solution employed by some Washington counties appears to offer an effective tool for reaching individuals trapped at the intersection of addiction, criminal activity and homelessness.” Dorothy Bullitt, an ETS donor writes about the importance of medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder in King County jails.

Seattle has figured out how to end the war on drugs

The New York Times

Seattle has figured out how to end the war on drugs

On the front page of The New York Times Sunday Review, Nicholas Kristof called out the ineffectiveness of the “War on Drugs” the U.S. has been waging for decades. After his visit to Seattle, including a few days with REACH’s LEAD case managers and clients, he is convinced that innovative, compassionate approaches like ours are the way forward.

ETS Clinical Director Discusses MAT, Counseling, and More

KODX Seattle

ETS Clinical Director Discusses MAT, Counseling, and More

Sean Soth sat down with KDOX’s radio podcast “3 to 1” to educate the public about the different services ETS provides, from medication-assisted treatment to our new Treatment in Motion van, to REACH.

Stories About Home: a night of storytelling from people who know homelessness

Seattle Times

Stories About Home: a night of storytelling from people who know homelessness

A recent storytelling event on the Seattle University campus called “Stories About Home”, put on by Seattle Times’ Project Homeless and SU’s Project on Family Homelessness, showcased emotional and insightful speaking from a number of folks who have experienced homelessness themselves, or have other close personal experience with it.
Come Have Coffee With Project Homeless

Seattle Times

Come Have Coffee With Project Homeless

The Seattle Times Project Homeless team wants to hear from you. Join them for coffee Tuesday, March 26 from 7:45 to 9:00 a.m. at Project Homeless HQ, 6940 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. The team wants to hear what you think about their reporting and discuss the topics they’re writing about. The event is open to all, but please RSVP.

A visual journey through addiction

The New York Times

A visual journey through addiction

The opioid epidemic has devastated America. It is now the leading cause of death in the U.S. for Americans under 55. How did we get here? “Getting hooked is nobody’s plan. Some turn to heroin because prescription painkillers are tough to get. Fentanyl, which is 50 times more potent than heroin, has snaked its way into other drugs like cocaine, Xanax and MDMA, widening the epidemic.” Check out this visual journey through addiction to better understand how opioids hijack the brains of our family and friends.

State Supreme Court Strikes Down I-27; King County Will Pursue Safe Consumption Sites

Seattle Weekly

State Supreme Court Strikes Down I-27; King County Will Pursue Safe Consumption Sites

The Washington State Supreme Court struck down I-27 – the initiative seeking to ban safe injection sites in King County – citing an infringement on the county’s right to set its own budget. “The ruling opens the doors for the county to begin setting up consumption sites as part of its pilot program.”

Drug overdose deaths were so bad in 2017, they reduced overall life expectancy

Vox

Drug overdose deaths were so bad in 2017, they reduced overall life expectancy

U.S. life expectancy has decreased for the third year in a row according to the Centers for Disease Control. In 2017, there were more than 70,000 drug overdose deaths – the highest for any year recorded. The synthetic opioid Fentanyl remains the top killer of those abusing substances. But there is hope. Statisticians believe that 2018 could show the opioid crisis and overdose deaths leveling off thanks to medication-assisted treatment, the overdose-reversing antidote naloxone, and corralling deceptive pharmaceutical companies.

US health chief says overdose deaths beginning to level off

The Seattle Times

US health chief says overdose deaths beginning to level off

Will 2018 statistics prove a decrease in opioid-related deaths? Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar thinks so. “There’s solid evidence backing medication-assisted treatment, when used alongside counseling and ongoing support. He also noted much broader access to the overdose-reversing drug naloxone, and a documented decline in the number of people misusing prescription opioids as doctors take greater care in prescribing.”

Major opioid maker to pay for overdose-antidote development

The Seattle Times

Major opioid maker to pay for overdose-antidote development

One of the major opioid manufacturing companies accused of deceptively marketing their drugs – Purdue Pharma – is making a $3.4 million grant to produce the overdose-reversing drug naloxone. “Governments are asking for changes in how opioids are marketed, and for help paying for treatment and the costs of ambulance runs, child welfare systems, jails and other expenses associated with the opioid crisis.”

Why Is the DOJ Trying to Stop Cities from Taking on the Opioid Crisis?

Rolling Stone

Why Is the DOJ Trying to Stop Cities from Taking on the Opioid Crisis?

Although more than 72,000 people died from overdoses last year, our current federal government wants to ban safe injections sites. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein believes the facilities do more harm than good. “This is not a disease that gets spread like the flu, people can only become addicted if they have access to these illegal drugs. If we can prevent that access, we can prevent the addiction.”

The Real Scandal in the Fight Against Opioids

Politico

The Real Scandal in the Fight Against Opioids

“At a time of widespread anguish and hand-wringing about addiction, neither the president, nor Congress, nor governors, nor journalists are paying enough attention to the one thing that could truly make a difference: more and better treatment.” Medication-assisted treatment is too critical in addressing the opioid epidemic to be ignored.

Long Distance Addictions

Seattle Weekly

Long Distance Addictions

ETS’ executive director, Molly Carney, was featured in this Seattle Weekly article on the barriers patients face trying to access medication-assisted treatment.

When an Iowa Family Doctor Takes On the Opioid Epidemic

The New York Times

When an Iowa Family Doctor Takes On the Opioid Epidemic

Through a federal program that places qualified doctors in under-served communities, Dr. Nicole Gastala found herself practicing family medicine in Marhsalltown,IA. She soon began her journey tackling the opioid epidemic in her new town and dealing with the bureaucracy and stigma that comes along with helping people begin their recovery from opioids.

Kitsap methadone patients face long commute for care for opioid addiction

Kitsap Sun

Kitsap methadone patients face long commute for care for opioid addiction

Substance users on their journey to recovery face many challenges. One challenge they shouldn’t face is access to medication-assisted treatment (MAT). Currently, there are no approved opioid treatment programs west of the Puget Sound. Tad Sooter from the Kitsap Sun follows an ETS patient – Janine – on her commute by ferry and car to receive MAT.

US opioid crisis: Seattle’s battle over safe injection plan

BBC

US opioid crisis: Seattle’s battle over safe injection plan

Safe injection sites have long been a contentious idea in Seattle. A place where addicts can safely consume drugs under the guidance of medical professionals – a crazy idea to some, but others believe such sites can help tackle the opioid crisis.

America’s 150-Year Opioid Epidemic

The New York Times

America’s 150-Year Opioid Epidemic

America’s opioid epidemic is not a new one, but a revitalization of substance misuse catalyzed by doctors prescribing a profitable and effective drug. “What is striking is how, aside from some Victorian-era moralizing, they [those who overdose] feel so familiar to a 21st-century reader: Henderson developed an addiction at a vulnerable point in her life, found doctors who enabled it and then self-destructed. She was just one of thousands of Americans who lost their lives to addiction between the 1870s and the 1920s.”

Safe Drug Site Challenge Heads to State Supreme Court

Seattle Weekly

Safe Drug Site Challenge Heads to State Supreme Court

ETS Executive Director Molly Carney was featured in Seattle Weekly for her knowledge around safe injection sites. “We believe the law is clear that public health decisions must be made by public health authorities in consultation with experts,” stated Carney as the safe injection site battle heads to the State Supreme Court.

An Opioid Crisis Foretold

The New York Times

An Opioid Crisis Foretold

The current opioid epidemic is the worst drug epidemic in U.S history. Epidemics have plagued countries across the 19th and 20th centuries and wars were fought over opium. The medical community is largely blamed for the epidemics that have affected populations over the years. Why have we not learned from our past?

Capital budget invests in Seattle area

Senate Democrats

Capital budget invests in Seattle area

Governor Inslee signed into law a supplemental capital budget. ETS was awarded $3 million for increased behavioral health capacity.

Federal Ban On Methadone Vans Seen As Barrier To Treatment

Huffington Post

Federal Ban On Methadone Vans Seen As Barrier To Treatment

A federal ban on mobile methadone clinics may be holding back proven medication-assisted treatment for those who are experiencing opioid addiction. Vans have the capability to reach the outskirts of cities to the most densely populated areas where an on-the-ground clinic is non-existent. ETS has federal grant money set aside to deploy four new vans, but until the DEA lifts the ban, the money and the medication lies dormant.

Let Cities Open Safe Injection Sites

The New York Times

Let Cities Open Safe Injection Sites

People are dying at staggering rates from opioid overdose. If lawmakers want to seriously help put a dent in overdose deaths, they must support safe injection sites. The contentious sites provide the overdose drug, naloxone, sterile syringes, and services that help get users on the road to recovery. Data from sites around the world prove that these safe consumption spaces have a positive influence on getting users into treatment.

Philadelphia, a city stalked by overdoses, fights back

The New York Times

Philadelphia, a city stalked by overdoses, fights back

Safe injection sites violate U.S. Federal Law yet can save tens of thousands of lives across the United States. In the wake of the largest drug epidemic in U.S. history – far surpassing the AIDS epidemic –  the U.S. must turn to innovative and radical ideas to halt this deadly epidemic. Safe injection sites attract the most marginalized populations of those who inject drugs, promote safe conditions for injecting, and open doors for those who are ready to seek healthcare – both mental and physical. These people already exist in our communities and these sites help them find the support they need to get into recovery. Cities like Vancouver and Sydney have already approved safe injection sites. The data surrounding these sites prove that there is no enhanced drug use or drug trafficking. So why are U.S. cities having such a hard time legalizing sites to help stifle the opioid epidemic? Stigma surrounding safe injection sites and public misconception are holding back lawmakers from approving said sites. This NYT article shows how Philadelphia is surpassing the bureaucracy and providing the needed help to substance users.

The Wrong Way to Treat Opioid Addiction

The New York Times

The Wrong Way to Treat Opioid Addiction

The stigma that exists around Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) hinders substance users from beginning their journey to recovery. Addiction is not synonymous to dependence on medication. Joe Thompson’s story serves as a harrowing example of how this type of stigma can be deadly towards those seeking treatment.

The Failed War on Drugs

New York Times

The Failed War on Drugs

“We have a crisis on our hands — and the last half century we’ve been failing to solve it.” New York Times opinion contributors show how we’ve lost the war on drugs, and what to do next.

The single biggest reason America is failing in its response to the opioid epidemic

Vox

The single biggest reason America is failing in its response to the opioid epidemic

“‘For 100-plus years as a society, we’ve punished and criminalized people who use drugs.”

This has fostered an environment in which people who are addicted to drugs are seen not as victims of a disease who need help, as we would see, say, someone with cancer. Instead, they’re viewed as wrongdoers and perpetrators of their own illness.” Reporter German Lopez from Vox on the stigma of addiction.

City Inside/Out: Safe Injection Sites?

Seattle Channel

City Inside/Out: Safe Injection Sites?

Seattle and King County lawmakers have been grappling with the opioid crisis. Last year, over 300 people died of an overdose. A contentious idea – safe injection sites – exist in many places around the world. Many people wonder if the sites will help or hinder the substance user. “You can’t help a dead person”, states Michael Roberts, Victim’s Father & Co-Founder, Amber’s H.O.P.E. With Narcan, staff at the sites are able to revive those who overdose. REACH’s Co -Director Chloe Gale joins Seattle City Councilman Rob Johnson, Dr. Joe Merrill, and Gretchen Taylor of Neighborhood Safety Alliance of Seattle to discuss the pros and cons of safe injection sites.

One way to help homeless in King County? Shorten the wait for treatment

The Seattle Times

One way to help homeless in King County? Shorten the wait for treatment

Philanthropy and local government are changing the way substance abuse affect our families, neighbors, and friends. That moment when someone thinks, “I need to get help” is the “tiny window of opportunity,” says ETS Executive Director, Molly Carney.  However, wait times can be detrimental towards the recovery process. “Currently, only five out of 29 local treatment agencies are able to consistently provide on-demand outpatient treatment for low-income clients.” Billionaire Steve and Connie Ballmer’s philanthropy and King County will soon be funding incentive payments for on-demand, outpatient treatment.

Americans die daily while president waffles on opioid crisis

The Seattle Times

Americans die daily while president waffles on opioid crisis

ETS Executive Director, Molly Carney, writes in the Seattle Times about Trump’s opioid crisis decision, “The problem is too overwhelming without increased support at the federal level. Had the president actually declared a national emergency, we would be better equipped to do more, right now.”

Lets Open Up About Addiction and Recovery

The New York Times

Lets Open Up About Addiction and Recovery

“According to Facing Addiction, one in three American households have a family member in active addiction, in recovery, or lost to an overdose.”Battling stigma is one of the many pillars to defeating addiction. By supporting those in recovery to speak up about their journey, one may inspire another to begin theirs to recovery.

Trump’s Promises Will Make the Opioid Problem Worse

The Stranger

Trump’s Promises Will Make the Opioid Problem Worse

“Had he declared a national emergency rather than a public health emergency, it would have immediately released federal money, which would have gone to drug treatment programs like King County’s Evergreen Treatment Services (ETS).”

Judge rules in favor of safe injection sites; blocks I-27 from getting on the ballot

Q13

Judge rules in favor of safe injection sites; blocks I-27 from getting on the ballot

At Evergreen Treatment Services we support safe injection sites. Public policy should be formed from data not stigma. “…safe injection sites, which would be supervised, could save addicts from overdosing while protecting the public from used needles.” Superior Court Judge Veronica Alicea Galvan ruled that Initiative 27 – which bans safe injection sites – extends beyond the scope of the initiative power.

How to Win a War on Drugs

New York Times

How to Win a War on Drugs

In the midst of the opioid epidemic, the U.S. should look across the pond for strategies.  “Portugal undertook a monumental experiment: It decriminalized the use of all drugs in 2001, even heroin and cocaine, and unleashed a major public health campaign to tackle addiction. Ever since in Portugal, drug addiction has been treated more as a medical challenge than as a criminal justice issue.” Portugal boasts the lowest drug-induced deaths statistics in Western Europe, a fraction of the 312 deaths per million people in the U.S., ages 15-64.

Doctors from Lower-Tier Medical Schools Prescribe Far More Opioids

Healthline

Doctors from Lower-Tier Medical Schools Prescribe Far More Opioids

In a new study, researchers found that a doctor’s medical school education may shape their opioid prescribing habits. Research compiled by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that doctors who studied at low-ranking medical schools prescribed 3x more opioids than those who studied at Harvard.

backers of safe drug injection sites sue to block a public vote in king county

Seattle Times

backers of safe drug injection sites sue to block a public vote in king county

A lawsuit has been filed to overthrow I-27, which seeks to ban safe injection sites. The lawsuit purports that citizens do not have the right to weigh scientific evidence on a multi-faceted public health issue at the ballot box. “I-27 would set a dangerous precedent for public health. Supervised Consumption Spaces are an essential tool in fighting the opiate epidemic,” Dr. Bob Wood, former director of the HIV/AIDS Program at Public Health-Seattle & King County.

ETS Executive Director Molly Carney in the Puget Sound Business Journal

Puget Sound Business Journal

ETS Executive Director Molly Carney in the Puget Sound Business Journal

“Molly Carney and her team hope every day that their hard work is saving people’s lives.

Carney is executive director of Evergreen Treatment Services, a nonprofit that offers medication-assisted treatment for adults with opioid use disorders and operates the Reach team, which provides street-based case management and outreach services to more than 1,000 homeless adults with substance-use disorders in the greater Seattle area each year. Carney joined ETS in 2013 and has grown the treatment side of the organization from two clinics serving 1,400 adults a year in Washington to four clinics serving 3,000.”

Read the full interview by PSBJ’s Coral Garnick.

Don’t blame addicts for America’s opioid crisis. Here are the real culprits.

The Guardian

Don’t blame addicts for America’s opioid crisis. Here are the real culprits.

Rather than solely blame the victims of the opioid crisis, skeptics should look at the doctors, pharmacists, and politicians that allowed opioids to be disbursed at such an alarming rate. “This is an almost uniquely American crisis driven in good part by particular American issues from the influence of drug companies over medical policy to a “pill for every ill” culture.

Report: King County breaks record in drug deaths

KOMO News

Report: King County breaks record in drug deaths

“[The opioid epidemic] is a public health issue, with a very effective intervention,” ETS’s Molly Carney reacts on KOMO News to a recent University of Washington study showing a record number of drug-related deaths in 2016.

For heroin and other opioid addiction, the medication-assisted treatment that ETS provides has been proven to reduce overdose.

Short answers to hard question about the opioid crisis

New York Times

Short answers to hard question about the opioid crisis

The opioid crisis is the worst drug crisis in the U.S. ever. How did we get here? Policymakers and the medical community must push agenda to reform how Americans view the opioid crisis.

Opioid commission tells Trump to declare state of emergency

CNN

Opioid commission tells Trump to declare state of emergency

The White House panel doing research on the opioid epidemic suggests Trump declare a state of emergency. “America is enduring a death toll equal to September 11th every three weeks.” Since 1999, the amount of overdoses in the U.S. has quadrupled.

The hard truths about Seattle’s new homeless fix

Crosscut

The hard truths about Seattle’s new homeless fix

“For every person who moves into a freshly minted affordable apartment, another one or two fall out.” This is the reality of the homelessness crisis in the Greater Seattle Area. In recent years, Seattle and King County have tried to fund affordable housing initiatives.”Despite the large investments, publicly subsidized affordable housing has not kept up. Which is where private-market landlords come into the picture.”

How Medicaid cuts could exacerbate the opioid epidemic

The Atlantic

How Medicaid cuts could exacerbate the opioid epidemic

GOP lawmakers looking to repeal the Affordable Care Act face resistance from members in their party who come from regions hardest hit by the opioid epidemic. Medicaid currently pays for about 25 percent of all substance use treatment.

This CDC map shows which areas have the highest rate of opioid painkiller prescriptions

Fast Company

This CDC map shows which areas have the highest rate of opioid painkiller prescriptions

This map from the C.D.C. shows which counties have the highest opioid prescription rates. “The opioid prescription rate is not evenly distributed. […] Large swaths of the country had significantly higher rates of opioid prescriptions per capita in 2015, with particular hot spots being Northern California, Southern Nevada, Western Maine, and Tennessee.”

Opioid prescriptions fall after 2010 peak, C.D.C. report finds

New York Times

Opioid prescriptions fall after 2010 peak, C.D.C. report finds

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s new opioid prescribing trend analysis shows that while the amount of opioids prescibed overall has dropped 18 percent between 2010 and 2015, the prescribing rate is still three times as high as the rate in 1999.

Opioids As The New Big Tobacco

NPR

Opioids As The New Big Tobacco

Parallels in misleading marketing and downplayed health risks between today’s prescription opioid market and the 1990 tobacco industry are evident, according to NPR.

What Medicaid Cuts Could Mean For The Opioid Epidemic

NPR

What Medicaid Cuts Could Mean For The Opioid Epidemic

NPR’s Michel Martin speaks with Lynn Cooper, director of the Drug and Alcohol Division at Pennsylvania’s Rehabilitation and Community Providers Association, about the Senate GOP healthcare bill.

Washington Opioid Summit Highlights Medication-Assisted Treatment, Stigma

The Fix

Washington Opioid Summit Highlights Medication-Assisted Treatment, Stigma

Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson hosted a two-day opioid summit in Seattle and advocated for the medication-assisted treatment with medications like methadone paired with wraparound services like counseling as the optimal treatment for opioid addiction.

The case for prescription herion

Vox

The case for prescription herion

One clinic in Vancouver, BC is treating people with opioid use disorders with medical-grade heroin. “The idea is this: If some people are going to use heroin no matter what, it’s better to give them a safe source of the stuff and a safe place to inject it, rather than letting them pick it up on the street — laced with who knows what — and possibly overdose without medical supervision.”

Trump’s budget dismays families hit by drug addiction crisis

Seattle Times

Trump’s budget dismays families hit by drug addiction crisis

After Trump promised to resolve America’s opioid epidemic on the campaign trail, his recent budget which proposed cutting funds from addiction treatment, research, and prevention, has left families reeling from this crisis disappointed and angry.

Debate continues but science is clear: Medications prevent opioid addiction relapse

Seattle Times

Debate continues but science is clear: Medications prevent opioid addiction relapse

Research confirms medication-assisted treatment (MAT) –  with medications such as methadone and buprenorphine – is effective in preventing recurrence of use and overdose. Despite MAT skeptics, the American Society of Addiction Medicine recommends medication combined with counseling as the optimal treatment strategy for most patients.

Inside the opioid epidemic

The Economist

Inside the opioid epidemic

Moving away from the argument that the opioid epidemic is being fueled by white working class despair and economic sluggishness, evidence points to changing drug markets and criminal networks as the real culprits.

PUBLIC RESTROOMS BECOME GROUND ZERO IN THE OPIOID EPIDEMIC

NPR

PUBLIC RESTROOMS BECOME GROUND ZERO IN THE OPIOID EPIDEMIC

Public restrooms have become a public safety and health concern as they are being used as a place for people to use heroin and other drugs. This radio feature highlights a user navigating Boston’s public restroom arena, a local business owner, and an addiction expert at Boston Medical Center to explore the challenges and propose solutions, one of which are safe consumption sites.

What’s One Way to Prevent Overdoses?

PRI's The World

What’s One Way to Prevent Overdoses?

Canadian government extends permission to three Canadian cities – Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa – to set up safe injection sites; coordinator of the Toronto planned site explains why they’re necessary to fight the crisis on the ground.

The Opioid Epidemic, the Border Wall, and Magical Thinking

The Atlantic

The Opioid Epidemic, the Border Wall, and Magical Thinking

“Amid a national catastrophe as serious as the opioid drug crisis, Trump lacks the knowledge and discipline to pursue the sorts of policies that would save more lives or do more good, even when the flaws of his alternative approach are glaringly obvious. The full consequences of his frustrating shortcomings may prove terrible, indeed.”

Spend a Dollar on Drug Treatment, and Save more on Crime Reduction

New York Times

Spend a Dollar on Drug Treatment, and Save more on Crime Reduction

Research findings show that unlike the war on drugs, treatment for substance use disorders has a tangible impact on crime reduction. Counseling paired with medication, such as methadone or buprenorphine, has been shown to be the most cost-effective way to treat opioid use disorder. C.D.C. researcher Harold Pollack explained, “the economic value of crime reduction largely or totally offsets the cost of treatment.”

$867,000 was at stake: Who did Lacey City Council give the money to?

The Olympian

$867,000 was at stake: Who did Lacey City Council give the money to?

Lacey City Council approved a $250,000 community development grant to Evergreen Treatment Services to expand the South Sound Clinic. This is a reflection of the council’s acknowledgement of the growing opioid epidemic and their commitment to finding solutions.

LET’S GO FOR A WIN ON OPIOIDS

New York Times

LET’S GO FOR A WIN ON OPIOIDS

Op-ed highlights the need to make progress against the opioid epidemic through economic integration and job creation efforts for rural, blighted communities in the U.S.

KOMO News town hall to focus on heroin crisis

KOMO News

KOMO News town hall to focus on heroin crisis

Submit your questions regarding the heroin crisis, safe injection sites, and substance use disorder treatment to be discussed during KOMO’s televised town hall with former news anchor, Penny LeGate, Sen. Mark Miloscia, Caleb Banta-Green from the UW’s Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute, and Snohomish Cty Sheriff Ty Trenary.

THE OPIOID EPIDEMIC IS THIS GENERATION’S AIDS CRISIS

New York Magazine

THE OPIOID EPIDEMIC IS THIS GENERATION’S AIDS CRISIS

As annual death tolls from drug overdoses surpasses the number of deaths caused by AIDS during its peak in America, New York Magazine argues that the opioid epidemic has become today’s largest public health challenge.

City Inside/Out: Heroin Help

Seattle Channel

City Inside/Out: Heroin Help

Seattle Channel weighs pros and cons of the Heroin and Opioid Task Force’s recommended safe consumption sites in Seattle.

Serving the Drug [Users] Of Utah, One Syringe At A Time

OZY

Serving the Drug [Users] Of Utah, One Syringe At A Time

The opioid epidemic has hit Utah hard – a state already struggling with a lack of health care– so the Syringe Exchange has stepped in to help prevent fatal overdoses by giving people what they need to inject drugs safely. People bring their dirty syringes and exchange are provided with clean syringes, tourniquets, alcohol swabs, first aid kits, and if possible, the overdose antidote naloxone.

Seattle, King County Plan Safe-Injection Sites

Wall Street Journal

Seattle, King County Plan Safe-Injection Sites

Seattle and King County move towards creating nation’s first safe drug sites to combat the opioid crisis based on the Herion and Prescription Opiate Addiction Task Force’s recommendation.

Don’t Lock ‘Em Up. Give ‘Em a Chance to Quit Drugs.

New York Times

Don’t Lock ‘Em Up. Give ‘Em a Chance to Quit Drugs.

The New York Times covers LEAD’s harm reduction approach toward people, like Roland Vasquez, who are caught in the cycle of incarceration.  Vasquez describes his struggle with substance use and LEAD’s role in keeping him in treatment and rebuilding his life and relationships.

Read more!

MTV’s Prescription for Change

MTV

MTV’s Prescription for Change

MTV teams up with multi-platinum artist Macklemore to go inside America’s opioid epidemic, meeting those living with addiction and heading to Washington DC for an exclusive talk with President Obama on this important issue. Watch now!

Northwest Now

KTBC

Northwest Now

Northwest Now, a production of KBTC Tacoma interviews Molly Carney, ETS executive director, Caleb Banta-Green of the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute at the UW, and former TV journalist Penny LeGate who tragically lost her daughter to heroin overdose.

ABC Nightline

ABC Nightline

ABC Nightline

REACH’s LEAD program is changing the way that the Seattle Police Department is handling low-level drug offenders.  Check out the program featured on ABC’s Nightline.