Tag Archives: drugs

Seattle City Attorney launches misdemeanor ‘Drug Prosecution Alternative’

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The election year rush of new programs and public safety initiatives will include a push from City Attorney Ann Davison to establish a new “Drug Prosecution Alternative” her office says will provide “an incentive for defendants arrested for drug use and possession to connect with services and commit no new law violations to have their drug cases dismissed.”

The new program comes as Davison mounts her reelection campaign as drug cases in the city “spiked in Q1 2024” and have continued at a high “approximate average of about 25 to 35 cases a month.”

The plan calls for Davison’s office to refer people arrested for misdemeanor drug offenses to the Seattle Municipal Court Resource Center. If they agree to “participate in substance use assessment,” complete a drug test, and accept a Stay Out of Drug Area” court order, plus have no criminal violations for a 60-day period, subjects can avoid prosecution. Continue reading →

When will Capitol Hill-grown magic mushrooms be legal in Seattle?

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A wavy cap found on Capitol Hill (Image: CHS)

A home-grown culture of psilocybe cubensis (golden teachers). (Image: Colby Bariel)

By Colby Bariel/UW News Lab

A Capitol Hill expert has taught hundreds of people, from grandmothers to neuroscientists how to cultivate magic mushrooms guiding many into the world of psychedelics.

With years of teaching experience, they cover the responsible use of entheogens, contemporary psychedelic theory, and their therapeutic applications.

ā€œPsychedelics are meaning-making chemicals,ā€ the expert tells CHS. ā€œMagic mushrooms are therapeutic, not medicinal.ā€

Their work is facilitated by a 2021 Seattle City Council decree decriminalizing the noncommercial cultivation of psilocybin mushrooms and several other entheogens. This decision has allowed Seattle residents to engage in home-mycology and explore the spiritual, religious, and therapeutic experiences offered by psychedelics.

But Seattle is not yet safe for psychonauts. And the shadows of the Trump administration have darkened the situation to the point where recent progress here is being slowed and rolled back.

While personal psilocybin cultivation is decriminalized, its use remains illegal. In February, a man on First Hill was busted for what police said was a ā€œdrug labā€ with thousands of dollars worth of magic mushrooms set up inside a First Hill apartment unit.

Organizations like REACH (Responsible Entheogen Access & Community Healing Coalition) Washington are advocating for state-level entheogen decriminalization.

Oregon is already a step ahead. Continue reading →

There has been a second Seattle SODA zone order issued — not on Capitol Hill this time

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Zone 4

Capitol Hill’s “Stay Out of Drug Area” is no longer the only SODA zone in Seattle with an active exclusion order.

Seattle Municipal Court filings show an order was issued for Seattle SODA Zone 2 in February against a 40-year-old busted for smoking meth in front an International District market in late December.

The February order covers the zone stretching across the CID and Pioneer Square. The judge in the case granted some leeway in the exclusion, allowing the defendant to “ride public transit through the zone.” Continue reading →

SPD says officers bust another suspected Capitol Hill street dealer in ’emphasis patrol’ focused on SODA zone

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(Image: SPD)

It isn’t clear how much the East PrecinctĀ  has stepped up anti-drug dealing activities around Broadway and Cal Anderson Park or if Seattle Police Department is just putting more focus on the busts but the department has released details of another suspected street dealer arrested by patrol officers on Capitol Hill in recent weeks.

SPD says its officers were “conducting surveillance near Broadway and East Pike Street, when they identified a drug dealer who was approached by several buyers” early last Friday morning.

Police were able to take the suspected dealer into custody without incident near Pike and Boylston. SPD reports officers recovered 20g of suspected Xanax, 1.5g of Methamphetamine, 8.0g of Fentanyl, digital scales, packaging, and $683 cash were recovered from the suspect.

Police say the 32-year-old was also wanted on warrants for Possession of Stolen Vehicle, Theft and Escape, and Criminal Impersonation; and is on Department of Corrections supervision for drug violations. Continue reading →

Not every Capitol Hill drugstore is closing: Broadway Walgreens planned for remodel

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(Image: Broadway Crossing)

Capitol Hill has had a tough couple months when it comes to massive retail corporations and the financial woes of the drugstore industry but there is a small bit of good news for people who get their prescriptions filled at Broadway and Pine.

City construction permit paperwork indicates Walgreens is mounting an effort to remodel its Broadway store with a roster of upgrades including a 600-square-foot pharmacy expansion.

The project comes after competitor Rite Aid shuttered two Broadway stores including the Bartell DrugsĀ in Broadwayā€™sĀ Harvard Market shopping center to end 2023 amid bankruptcy woes brought on in part by settlements in massive federal and state opioid lawsuits. Continue reading →

Even with few arrests under Seattle’s new drug law, city’s diversion program won’t be able to keep up in 2024

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(Image: Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion)

There has been about one arrest per day under Seattle’s new public drug use law but a core city program hoped to divert more of those arrested out of jail and into rehab still won’t be able to keep up next year.

In a presentation (PDF) to a Seattle City Council committee this week, officials said Seattle Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion program or LEAD will reach its capacity for serving new referrals by May of 2024.

The Seattle Police Department reported fewer than 50 arrests had been made under the new drug law through November with 33 people diverted. LEAD stats show a big bump in the final weeks of October as the law went into effect that has since leveled off.

But the program’s capacity is still about to reach a breaking point. Continue reading →

Seattle Police begin city’s crackdown on public drug use with reported arrests, 13 ‘referred to the case managers’

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The Seattle Police Department says it started enforcement of the city’s new public drug use law with “enforcement operations” in two familiar crime hot spots this weekend — Little Saigon and the downtown core around 3rd and Pine.

SPD Chief Adrian Diaz said the operations were underway in the areas ave 12th Ave and South Jackson in the International District, and on 2nd 3rd near Pike and Pine downtown.

“This is not about arresting people,” Diaz said. “We want to make sure that people are taking advantage of services. Right now, we know 13 people were referred to the case managers and thatā€™s really whatā€™s important to us.” Continue reading →

City Council passes law opening way for crackdown on public drug use in Seattle

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(Image: SPD)

The Seattle City Council approved legislation Tuesday opening the way for a Seattle Police crackdown on public drug use on the city’s streets while doing more to emphasize diversion and treatment.

The 6-3 vote fell as expected with District 2Ā representativeĀ Tammy Morales, andĀ District 3Ā leaderĀ Kshama Sawant joined by citywide councilmember Teresa Mosqueda in opposing the bill.

“There is real urgency to make critical investments to address the challenges facing people trapped in cycles of crisis, substance use, criminalization and housing instability, as well as genuine issues shared with me by frontline workers and neighbors impacted by the drug crisis,” Mosqueda said following Tuesday’s vote. “I have always advocatedā€”and will continue to advocateā€”to address the root causes that lead to addiction, get neighbors the treatment they desperately need, and prevent public use. This bill, without expanding diversion capacity, wonā€™t accomplish that.ā€

Sara Nelson, the other citywide rep on the council and sponsor of the original bill focused on City Attorney Ann Davisonā€™s prosecution that was rejected by the council this summer, celebrated the passage. “The drug crisis we see playing out on our streets is the most crushing public health and safety issue of our time,” Nelson said. “We have a moral obligation to do everything within our power to reverse this devastating loss of life and associated community harms ā€“ including police intervention.”

Mayor Bruce Harrell said Tuesday he will sign the bill as soon as possible and issue an executive order to clarify how Seattle Police should enforce the new law after the council rejected an amendment Tuesday that would have directed an officer “to both make an assessment of threat of harm to others and make an attempt to divert when an individual only poses a threat of harm to themselves” under the new law. Continue reading →

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

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UPDATE: We got a lot of feedback over the weekend about the original headline for this story — Seattleā€™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 hadnā€™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 Iā€™d done, I uttered an extremely dramatic phrase for someone under their parentā€™s insurance and with access to modern dental care.

ā€œI just ruined my life.ā€

Now, youā€™ve already jumped to conclusions based on the title of this article and assumed I was high. Youā€™re wrong. I was stupid, had made a bad mistake, but I wasnā€™t high. But my friends were. Theyā€™d eaten mushrooms earlier that afternoon and had just watched what they described as ā€œtracersā€ 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 itā€™s reasonable to ponder if my imbibing wouldā€™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 didnā€™t blame them. Weā€™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 didnā€™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 City Council debates $27M plan for Seattle drug crackdown, treatment and diversion — UPDATE

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A Seattle City Council committee Tuesday morning will debate Mayor Bruce Harrell’s proposal for cracking down on public drug use while doing more to “emphasize diversion and health programs.ā€

The Public Safety and Human Services Committee session will take up and possibly vote on the proposed legislation raised in August after theĀ Seattle City CouncilĀ did not support an earlier proposal that officials said lacked adequate plans and resources to provide support for treating addiction and providing options beyond incarceration.

The Harrell administration proposal would shuffle $27 million in budgeted spending toward enhanced treatment facilities, new addiction services, and improved overdose response for first responders including $7 million this year in capital investments in facilities to provide services such as post-overdose care, opioid medication delivery, health hub services, long-term care management, and drop-in support. Continue reading →