Tag Archives: health

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

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(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 →

City Council to vote on new law but is Seattle ready for a crackdown on drug use and possession on its streets? — UPDATE: Bill fails in 5-4 vote

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Seattle Police have made drug busts for years — including this alleged dealer in an operation a decade ago downtown. The bill up for vote Tuesday could bring a crackdown on lower level drug crimes in the city. (Image: SPD)

The Seattle City Council will vote on a proposal Tuesday afternoon that would allow the city to do something it has never done before — prosecute drug use and possession on Seattle’s streets.

With a new state law in place making low level drug crimes in Washington a gross misdemeanor and giving the state a harder stance on drug law penalties, Tuesday’s vote would open the door to Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison’s plan to act on the new status of the crimes with the King County Prosecutor’s office already slammed with more serious drug dealing and felony cases.

The move could represent a major step away from decades of efforts to better address drugs and addiction through treatment and services.

Sponsored by Councilmembers Sara Nelson and Alex Pedersen, the bill would make possession of controlled substances and use of controlled substances in a public place a gross misdemeanor. It would codify the City Attorney’s responsibility for prosecuting gross misdemeanor drug use and possession in Seattle, a move that city council analysis says would produce an unknown increase in cases handled by the office — and costs related to the prosecution. Continue reading →

New FDA blood donor guidelines end ‘no sex for three months’ rule for gay men

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(Image: nursingclio.org)

Gay and bisexual men are now able to donate blood just like everybody else. The Food and Drug Administration released a plan Thursday to replace the stigmatizing restrictions that have restricted gay men from becoming blood donors with updated federal guidelines that focus on behavior and not sexual orientation.

The new guidelines will remove the rule requiring men who have sex with men to abstain from sex for three months prior to giving blood and create a new questionnaire to screen all potential donors for their HIV risk. Anyone reporting anal sex with a new partner in the last three months will have to wait to donate.

“This proposed policy change is based on the individual behavior of the prospective donor and not on their sexual orientation or gender,” Bloodworks Northwest said in a statement. “This means that ALL prospective donors will be asked the same risk-based questionnaire when signing up to give blood. While these changes may take months to implement, we look forward to swiftly implementing the new guidance and welcoming donors who have previously been deferred from blood donation.”

LGBTQ health groups and blood clinics like Bloodworks Northwest are praising the change. “Our community has been excluded for quite some time, so this is a big step in the right direction,” Luis Viquez, an HIV/STI tester at Gay City: Seattle’s LGBTQ Center on Capitol Hill told the Seattle Times.

 

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Seattle Fire Department announces naloxone donation as FDA approves over-the-counter Narcan

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The Seattle Fire Department has received a donation that could save hundreds of lives after a national medicine nonprofit has given the department 1,000 dosages of intramuscular naloxone to help the city combat fentanyl and opioid overdoses. Meanwhile, a FDA decision will make Narcan-brand naloxone available over the counter by the end of summer meaning the overdose-reversing medicine can be sold on the shelves at pharmacies, grocery stores, and corner markets. Continue reading →

With 73% of the population behind on COVID-19 vaccination, Seattle-King County health officials recommend indoor masking

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Might as well look cool — Zazzle lets you make custom facemasks (and fun CHS article illustrations)

Seattle and King County leaders have joined health officials across the state in calling for people to mask indoors as COVID and other respiratory viruses are running rampant heading into the holiday season and winter.

“Communities across our state and around the U.S. are experiencing an unprecedented surge in viral respiratory illnesses, including respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), influenza and COVID-19,” the statement from Seattle and King County Public Health reads. “As health officers and health care leaders working to improve the health of Washington residents, we recommend that everyone wear a high-quality, well-fitting mask when around others in indoor spaces to protect against both acquiring and spreading these infections to others.”

The result is a lot of coughing and sneezing in the world right now pretty much everywhere you go or who you are with from groups of high school kids on the bus to the line at the QFC. Continue reading →

What does Seattle need for coming smoky summers? Clean air shelters, new rules to protect workers, and patience

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Seattle at its smokiest Wednesday

What should we do about coming smoky summers? Ask a firefighter (Image: Amanda Monthei)

“Should Washington fight the Bolt Creek Fire to protect Seattle’s air?,” CHS asked seven days ago as we reported on the factors being considered by the Washington Department of Natural Resources in its command of the state’s firefighting resources. Those factors include communities, homes, and highways — but not air quality.

Now, after more smoke from newly surging incidents like the Loch Katrine fire poured into the region and pushed Seattle to some of the most dangerous air on earth this week, raindrops are finally starting to fall on Capitol Hill.

It is the right time to start getting ready for next summer — and the smoky summers that will follow.

A wildland firefighter who just came off the Bolt Creek Fire working as a Public Information Officer, Amanda Monthei has seven years experience with wildfires and says cities like Seattle need to prepare with new resources and clean air shelters in a new smokier future — fires on some of the nearest mountains and in wildlands only minutes away need the flames. Continue reading →

Should Washington fight the Bolt Creek Fire to protect Seattle’s air? — UPDATE

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We may be breathing in the last smoky days of 2022 on Capitol Hill but get used to them. Seattle is seeing more unhealthy air than ever — and state fire suppression efforts don’t prioritize air quality.

Meanwhile, as much as the smoke and haze is a concern, Seattle also now has too many days when the bad air has nothing to do with wind currents and burning forests in places like Skykomish.

Recent measurements from IQAir show Seattle logging more than twice the allowable number of days with unhealthy air, according to US Environmental Protection Agency guidelines.

Those bad air days fall into two categories — half of them, IQAir says, are due to particulate matter in the air from events like longer, more intense wildfires.

The Washington Department of Natural Resources which manages state fire suppression efforts including controlled forest burning says the response to the Bolt Creek Fire which has dragged on due to a historically dry October is by the books despite the wildfire’s impact on air quality around the more densely populated areas of Puget Sound.

A DNR spokesperson tells CHS the response strategy comes down to suppressing a fire in a remote area where homes and property around Skykomish are not threatened. Continue reading →

‘Rally to Defend Abortion Rights’ planned for Cal Anderson

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Cal Anderson Park will be a gathering point Saturday as part of nationwide rallies and marches for abortion rights.

Women’s March organizers are calling for a weekend of action in advance of November’s midterm elections. The march starting on Capitol Hill is being organized by the Seattle Democratic Socialists of America with plans to gather in the park at 1 PM.

Cal Anderson has served as a busy centerpoint for protests and marches that have formed in Seattle as the Supreme Court ruled to reverse Roe vs. Wade, eliminating the constitutional right to abortion.

In August, Mayor Bruce Harrell signed a suite of abortion protection legislation into law in the city including legislation from District 3’s Kshama Sawant directing the Seattle Police Department and the City Attorney Ann Davison “to refrain from cooperating with out-of-state law enforcement agencies or other entities about abortion-related matters,” according to a statement from the council.

 

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With COVID-19 state of emergency coming to an end, First Hill’s Frye Art Museum adding new ‘mask-required hours’

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(Image: Jonathan Vanderweit/Frye)

The end of October will bring an end to nearly 1,000 days of Washington’s COVID-19 state of emergency. But, of course, it doesn’t bring the end of the pandemic. The transition is leaving many important decisions regarding life with the virus to individuals, private businesses, and organizations to sort out and find the best paths forward.

First Hill’s Frye Art Museum is taking steps to create a safe environment for all of its visitors by instituting new “mask-required hours” during the first Sunday of every month. Expect to see more similar solutions in Seattle.

“To accommodate immunocompromised individuals and those who prefer to visit when all guests and staff are required to mask, we offer mask-required hours on the first Sunday of the month from 11 am– 1 pm,” Frye’s announcement reads. Continue reading →

Air quality warnings return along with smoke from Bolt Creek Fire over Seattle — UPDATE

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(Image: @pscleanair)

The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency warned Wednesday morning that air quality in Seattle has reached unhealthy levels in the central city due to smoke from nearby wildfires.

The agency said that shifting winds have redirected a plume of smoke from the nearby Bolt Creek Fire along Highway 2 near Index.

This morning we are seeing air quality that is UNHEALTHY for everyone in downtown and north Seattle from a plume of smoke from the Bolt Creek fire. Winds are blowing from Skykomish west to Everett then south to downtown. Stay indoors when possible.

Continue reading →