King County adding treatment facilities, relaunching Seattle sobering center to take on fentanyl crisis

A fatal overdose in Cal Anderson (Image: CHS)

At 10:30 AM on Monday, the Seattle Fire Department responded to a reported overdose in a Boylston Ave apartment. The city’s fire chief says his department is responding to an average of 15 drug overdoses a day driven by a surge in fentanyl use.

Officials this week say King County is launching a new “multi-part strategy across five priority areas” to address the crisis beginning this year that will include a new residential treatment center plus five new Crisis Care Centers paid for by the $1.25 billion property levy approved by voters last year along with new initiatives to increase access to overdose antidotes and drug testing.

Previously shuttered services are also being restarted including the reopening of the county’s sobering center that provides a desperately needed facility for people suffering from addiction and heavy drug or alcohol use.

“Substance use disorder is complex, and there is not one single cause, nor one simple solution. That’s why King County is connecting people to treatment and lifesaving interventions that are proven to work, and clear paths to recovery for all,” King County Executive Dow Constantine said in a statement. “The increasingly dangerous drug supply across the state and nation, dominated by fentanyl, is contributing to a devastating increase in deaths. There is so much more to do, which is why King County is also working upstream to help prevent substance use disorder, inform and educate the community, elevate early intervention strategies, and provide services and treatment for anyone who needs it.”

The investments range from the new facilities to resources already put in place like the county’s buprenorphine prescription hotline that is staffed 24 hours a day to help people get access to the drug used as a safer replacement in the treatment of opioid dependence.

Five Priorities for Action to Prevent Overdoses in King County in 2024

Priority 1: Treatment and community-based, recovery-focused care for all. Continue reading

Donating blood in Seattle? New guidelines mean everyone will now be asked about sexual activity, not sexual orientation

(Image: nursingclio.org)

A provider of donated blood supply to most hospitals across the region is ready to welcome some special new donors.

Bloodworks Northwest announced it has a new screening process for every donor and can now welcome blood donations from more gay and bisexual men after decades of stigmatizing restrictions that have prevented men who have sex with men from participating.

Under the changes, Bloodworks says its processes will change for everyone. Bloodworks Northwest says it is now asking all potential donors to answer the same set of health history questions “assessing their human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) risk, regardless of their gender or sexual orientation.”

“Questions regarding sexual history, previously targeted to MSM, will now apply to all donors,” the organization said.

In its announcement, Bloodworks Northwest said it has long supported changing the policy “regarding blood donation by MSM to a more equitable process and increasing the pool of eligible donors.” Continue reading

Customers: Capitol Hill Bartell Drugs store set to join wave of closures — UPDATE

Will the infamous messages on the Broadway Theater marquee become a thing of the past? (Image: CHS)

A wave of store closures shuttering drugstores across Seattle — and the country — will hit Capitol Hill. Customers will be left scrambling. Employees will lose their jobs.

Customers are being told Thursday they will need to move their prescriptions to another pharmacy — the entire Pike and Broadway Bartell Drugs will close in early December in the Harvard Market shopping center.

Customers also tell CHS the Rite Aid at the busy intersection of Broadway, John, and E Olive Way across from Capitol Hill Station won’t be an option — it is closing, too.

Rite Aid company officials haven’t confirmed details of the planned closures with CHS but customers say they are being informed of the impending Broadway/Pike shutdown and employees have said the Broadway Rite Aid will also be part of the closure. Continue reading

‘A threat of harm assessment’ — Seattle mayor issues executive order hoped to guide police in enforcing city’s new public drug use law

A SPD officer responds to a reported overdose near the city’s central library (Image: SPD)

With the new law opening the way for a crackdown on public drug use in the city going into effect October 1st, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell has issued his promised executive order his administration says will help ensure a more equal balance of treatment and diversion efforts as Seattle Police enforce the law by establishing “a threat of harm assessment.”

“We are committed to learning lessons from the past, holding traffickers, dealers, and those causing the most harm accountable, and helping people access treatment and care through diversion services,” Harrell said in the announcement.

CHS reported here on the passage of the new law opening the way for more arrests and prosecution of public use of drugs like meth and fentanyl while also earmarking millions in spending for diversion and treatment programs. While the crackdown could help address concerns about street disorder and overdoses, it also is expected to tax the city’s law enforcement and treatment resources while adding to the challenges already faced by those living with addiction and living homeless in the city.

The new order hinges on a so-called “threat of harm assessment.” Harrell says the executive order “provides direction to officers on how to enforce the ordinance, including examples of how public use and possession can be established and factors that will guide the threat of harm assessment.” Continue reading

Urban Animal — including its Capitol Hill clinic — set to become state’s nation’s first worker-owned veterinary co-op

Founded in 2012 on the edge of the First Hill “Pill Hill” medical neighborhood, Urban Animal is reorganizing as a cooperative and giving the chance to its 110 employees across three Seattle locations including Capitol Hill’s E Thomas to become owners of the veterinary clinic that serves more than 50,000 clients.

“The veterinary industry is in the eye of a perfect storm due to factors such as employee burnout and private equity buyouts, which are diminishing the number of qualified veterinary professionals,” Urban Animal founder and veterinarian Cherri Trusheim said in the announcement. “Urban Animal is presenting this groundbreaking solution to set the bar for the industry and beyond.” Continue reading

‘Help the King of the Hill pay his medical expenses’ — Fundraiser supports E Olive way convenience store owner’s recovery

(Image: Google)

A neighborhood grocer who has been serving his Capitol Hill neighborhood for more than 20 years needs help with his medical bills — and your good thoughts for his recovery.

Friends have set up a fundraiser with a $100,000 goal to help Aklilu Abraham, owner of the E Olive Way King of the Hill convenience store, as he recovers from emergency brain surgery: Continue reading

Pikes/Pines | A few things to chew on about Seattle’s magic mushrooms 🍄

UPDATE: We got a lot of feedback over the weekend about the original headline for this story — Seattle’s magic mushrooms ruined my life. Some people said it didn’t accurately portray what the Pikes/Pines nature post was about. Others were concerned readers would only see the headline and a negative portrayal of magic mushrooms. We settled on the original headline after agreeing it fit given the personal story of starting a natural history exploration of psilocybe mushrooms. But we agree that the headline can cause confusion and is getting in the way of a good episode of Pikes/Pines. We have updated the headline. Thanks and apologies for any frustrations.

A map of Psilocybe mushroom observations around Seattle illustrates their urban tendencies (Source: iNaturalist)

A wavy cap, indeed (Image: CHS)

It was a Friday, a weekend away from my 16th birthday, and I had permission to wander off after school with my friends. On this dry October evening, I sat astride monkey bars in a playground in Northeast Seattle while we waited to catch a bus. For some reason that is still a mystery to me, I decided to jump off my perch, but neglected to notice the length of metal tubing below. My face impacted steel before my feet touched the ground and the majority of my two main incisors disintegrated.

When I landed on the ground, I felt obvious pain, but I hadn’t really clocked the ramifications. That was until I looked up at my friends, who appeared to be imitating The Scream. Tentatively probing my jagged maw and realizing what I’d done, I uttered an extremely dramatic phrase for someone under their parent’s insurance and with access to modern dental care.

“I just ruined my life.”

Now, you’ve already jumped to conclusions based on the title of this article and assumed I was high. You’re wrong. I was stupid, had made a bad mistake, but I wasn’t high. But my friends were. They’d eaten mushrooms earlier that afternoon and had just watched what they described as “tracers” fly out of my mouth, and then heard me utter a phrase that haunted them for the rest of the weekend (and long into the future). While it’s reasonable to ponder if my imbibing would’ve helped me through this trauma (doubtful), I know being sober made calling my parents on my Nokia brick less terrifying. My friends caught the bus and ditched me and I didn’t blame them. We’re all still friends and are all reasonably well functioning adults, drugs aside.

For years after breaking my teeth, I was deeply suspicious of psychedelics despite using cannabinoids, alcohol, caffeine, and very rarely nicotine. In fact, I didn’t try mushrooms until fairly recently, when I had a lovely time sitting on a river bank watching birds, making willow branch wreaths, and taking photographs. Despite my reticence and an enjoyable first experience, I never once did I stop to consider the natural history of these mushrooms — many of which grow right here in Seattle. Continue reading

Seattle health officials say now is time to make appointments for latest COVID vaccine

Officials at Seattle and King County Public Health are encouraging people to start arranging appointments following the CDC approval of updated COVID-19 vaccines.

“The new 2023-24 COVID-19 vaccines have been approved,” the health department’s announcement reads. “Some pharmacies and providers may have it in the next days and weeks. Check http://Vaccines.gov to find appointments or check with your provider.”

The CDC is recommending the new vaccines for the upcoming “fall/winter season” for everybody 6 months and older.

Officials are hoping to head off overlap of increasing COVID-19 infections with flu season and the seasonal rise in the spread of other respiratory viruses. Continue reading

After Supreme Court decision, Seattle fund has helped 757 ‘accessing abortion services locally’

A Seattle City Council committee Tuesday will hear a report on an “influx of healthcare refugees seeking care from other states that have restricted access to abortion” to Washington State in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision upending the federal right to abortion access.

The Public Safety and Human Services Committee 9:30 AM session will include an update on the Northwest Abortion Access Fund, the 2017 effort the city and county-boosted with $2.25 million to help address the influx.

“Between April 2022 and March 2023, Washington State saw its number of monthly abortions increase by 16.5%, or an additional 290 procedures per month,” a council brief on the Tuesday session reports. Continue reading

‘Fentanyl Systems Work Group’ — Seattle leaders dig in on plan to shape new public drug use legislation that includes resources for treatment and diversion

(Image: City of Seattle)

After rushed legislation that lacked adequate resources for treatment and diversion failed at the Seattle City Council, the city’s leaders are reshaping efforts to crack down on public drug use and enable the city attorney to prosecute drug use and possession on Seattle’s streets.

Monday, Mayor Bruce Harrell appointed a 24-member work group “uniting the four corners of Seattle government” – the Mayor’s Office, Seattle City Council, Seattle Municipal Court, and Seattle City Attorney – along with officials from law enforcement, diversion programs, and service provision, and “other subject matter experts to advance effective and sustainable solutions addressing illegal drug use in public spaces.”

The new Fentanyl Systems Work Group is hoped to shape a more robust plan after legislation to move forward on a plan focused on City Attorney Ann Davison’s prosecution duties fell short in a narrow city council vote over the plan’s lack of investment in city resources for treatment and diversion and a history of drug enforcement that has consistently and disproportionately targeted people of color and the homeless.

“We are committed to addressing the deadly public health crisis playing out on our streets, holding dealers accountable for trafficking illegal drugs harming our communities, and advancing innovative health strategies to help those struggling with substance use disorder,” Harrell said in the announcement. Continue reading