Seattle’s Addiction Crisis is a Biohazard
Seattle, once known as the Emerald City for its scenic forests and mountains, has plunged into darkness as drug overdoses, exposed needles, human feces and crime overtake the streets and suburbs of this once thriving city.
From a defunded police department that has left the city with a 24% uptick in homicides to the decriminalization of hard drugs that sent overdose rates up 40%, the progressive city has taken a turn for the worst, with headlines now reading that fentanyl deaths are getting so bad that Seattle morgues are running out of room for dead bodies.
Walking the streets of Seattle paints a dystopian picture of how bad the addiction crisis has gotten. “There’s people overdosing like crazy out there,” one drug user began, “I’ve been using for 15 years now and I’ve never seen it like this, I’ve probably lost about 10 friends just in the last year”.
During a quick walk through downtown it’s not uncommon to see human feces, exposed needles, open drug deals and black markets full of stolen goods on the streets. “We’re gonna walk just one block away and you’re going to see an open air black market of stolen merchandise,” local reporter Jonathan Choe began, “these addicts…they walk into walmart and target come out with items they’ll sell it on the corner for pennies on the dollar to buy meth, heroin, fentanyl,” he explained.
Within just an hour of being downtown Choe also pointed out a young man digging through piles of trash in a search for leftover drugs.
Open needles in the streets, open defecation and open crime are a common scene, and sadly these issues extend well past downtown. Another area of concern in Seattle’s suburbs is a Burger King located in the Beacon Hill neighborhood.
After becoming vacant, the building began attracting the homeless who began frequenting the building. Locals in the area shared that they began lighting fires inside and back in November of 2022 the entire building caught fire. The building, still untouched, smells of burnt wood, plastic and urine, and dead animals can be found on the surrounding sidewalks.
A block away from two schools, the city still has no timeline as to when they will be demolishing the building and two businesses have closed near the area due to the high amount of vandalism, break-ins and crime the building is attracting.
The high crime rates in the city are a direct result of Seattle’s push to defund their police department and back in 2021 the city council voted to defund the department by $35.6 million.
Seattle is now dealing with their lowest police staffing in 30 years and there has been a 24% rise in homicides in the city as a direct result.
The city’s lack of action in response to homelessness, drug use and crime has left locals struggling to keep their businesses open and keep their streets clean, with one Seattle resident taking it upon herself to push for change by starting her own organization to clean trash-filled streets.
Andrea, founder of “We Heart Seattle” began her organization after watching city parks, streets and neighborhoods become overrun with trash and open needles. She began “We Heart Seattle” back in 2020 and with volunteer work alone, has picked up over 400 tons of trash and over 20,000 needles.
She shares that it’s been up to citizens like her to clean up city streets as public officials have stated that they won’t clean up the trash because it could be property of the homeless.
Having reported in San Francisco, Philadelphia and Portland every progressive city feels the same. Needles lying in the streets, school children walking beside open drug users, all in the name of “progressivism” and “equity.” Every city that has adopted these policies is left in ruins as their streets turn into a biohazard and residents are left to protect themselves and their businesses from crime, drug abuse and open camping.
