The Olympian Logo

Special to The Olympian: State must address heroin epidemic, drug crimes | The Olympian

×
  • E-edition
  • Home
    • Customer Service
    • About Us
    • Buy Photos and Pages
    • Contact Us
    • Plus
    • Mobile & Apps
    • Newsletters
    • Newspaper in Education
    • Subscribe
    • Subscriber Services
    • Archives

    • News
    • Business
    • Crime
    • Databases
    • Death Notices
    • Education
    • Local News
    • Military News
    • Obituaries
    • Politics & Government
    • State
    • Traffic
    • Watchdog
    • Weather
    • Opinion
    • Cartoons
    • Editorials
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Opinion Columns
    • Submit a Letter
    • Sports
    • College
    • High School
    • Mariners
    • Preps Stats
    • Seahawks
    • Sounders
    • UW Huskies
    • Politics
    • Living
    • Announcements
    • Food
    • Health & Fitness
    • Home & Garden
    • Travel
    • Entertainment
    • Arts & Culture
    • Comics
    • Puzzles & Games
    • Events Calendar
    • Horoscopes
    • Movies
    • Restaurants
    • Outdoors
    • Fishing

  • Classifieds
  • Jobs
  • Moonlighting
  • Cars
  • Homes
  • Place An Ad
  • Mobile & Apps

Opinion

Special to The Olympian: State must address heroin epidemic, drug crimes

Steven Weller - Special to The Olympian

    ORDER REPRINT →

January 18, 2014 12:00 AM

The heroin crisis in Washington state has reached the level of a state emergency.

The situation here is no different than in Vermont, where Gov. Peter Shumlin spent the entirety of his state address on the crisis of heroin and drug-related crime that “threatens our safety” and “compromises our quality of life.” I applaud his courage, honesty and proposed plan.

This is a tragedy of bureaucracy. All of our cogs went about their tasks while they failed to have any cognition of the big picture.

This crisis didn’t happen overnight, it happened on a line graph in plain sight of health officials.

SIGN UP

Sign Up and Save

Get six months of free digital access to The Olympian

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

#ReadLocal

A 500 percent increase in syringes exchanged by Thurston County locally since 2006 is just one indicator of the exponentially growing problem. Death threats, rampant heroin use and narcotic dealing at the Olympia Timberland Regional Library should have been the wake-up call.

Children and park employees from Spokane to Olympia are being stuck with used needles. However, the dirty syringes are just the tip of the iceberg.

A community meeting reported in Aberdeen’s Daily World described citizens outraged by drugs and sex traffic in the area. A new Wisconsin heroin awareness campaign states that 30 percent of heroin addicts turn to “survival sex” to feed their habit.

In rural Pacific County, a new K-9 officer was acquired to deal with “reports of prowlers in different neighborhoods around the county during all hours of the day and night.” A security guard is stationed at the summit of Capital Peak to keep addicts from stealing the copper metal wires.

Small-business owners are frustrated with vandalism, theft, dirty needles, condoms and blood splatter, as well as decreasing business revenue. It was reported that one business owner was putting in 12-hour days at his shop, then vigilantly watching security video feeds once he got home.

At $20 per gram (one user dose), heroin is seriously pulling down our economic recovery. Multiply those $20 fixes by the 1.2 million syringes handed out by Thurston County Health alone last year, and you can see the financial toll of this problem.

That money goes straight up the veins of addicts and down the interstate to Mexican cartels.

Many citizens become addicted to heroin after first becoming addicted to opiate pain killers. In 2007, the CDC noted that there were enough prescription opiates dispensed in the United States to keep everyone in the country high around the clock for three weeks.

Shumlin emphasized the most important component of his plan was a prevention campaign to stop people from entering this downward spiral. His comprehensive plan also included timely treatment interventions, better law enforcement coordination and stricter penalties for drug traffickers and drug-related crime.

We are asking our Gov. Jay Inslee and state legislators to recognize this epidemic and start an education, awareness and prevention campaign. With an epidemic that is growing at this rate, prevention is critical.

Join Concerned Olympians and add your voice.

Steven Welliever is a Washingtonian who has lived in Olympia since 1997 and is a member of Concerned Olympians.

  Comments  

Videos

Opinion: Trump vs. the experts on Iraq, North Korea

Coal miner to Trump: “Coal mining isn’t coming back”

View More Video

Trending Stories

Tim Eyman investigated for theft after Office Depot incident, Lacey police say

February 15, 2019 03:45 PM

Thurston County students didn’t return to school until Friday. What took so long?

February 15, 2019 08:11 AM

Another storm, another big question: Why was power out for so long?

February 16, 2019 07:00 AM

Despite residents’ pleas, Lacey policy is to clear only main roads during snowstorms

February 15, 2019 07:00 AM

The snow on the sidewalk must go if you live in Tacoma or Olympia. It’s the law

February 15, 2019 05:29 PM
Local display advertising by PaperG

Read Next

Editorials

Planning for the long term may be more than human brains can handle

By The Olympian Editorial Board

    ORDER REPRINT →

February 15, 2019 03:46 PM

The draft plan for dealing with climate change and sea level rise strains our capacity to think about and plan for a future we cannot really imagine, well beyond our own lifetimes. But we definitely need to think longer term about a new county courthouse.

KEEP READING

Sign Up and Save

#ReadLocal

Get six months of free digital access to The Olympian

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

MORE OPINION

Letters to the Editor

Obeying laws seems to be arbitrary

February 15, 2019 02:58 PM

Letters to the Editor

The future of agriculture in Thurston County

February 15, 2019 02:57 PM

Letters to the Editor

Kudos to the U.S. Post Office

February 15, 2019 02:57 PM
Trump’s foreign policy is pushing allies into China and Russia’s waiting arms

Opinion

Trump’s foreign policy is pushing allies into China and Russia’s waiting arms

February 14, 2019 03:26 PM
Parkland massacre riveted us in anguish, yet we still don’t act

Opinion

Parkland massacre riveted us in anguish, yet we still don’t act

February 14, 2019 02:07 PM

Letters to the Editor

Details of homeless provides realistic look

February 14, 2019 11:20 AM
Take Us With You

Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand.

Icon for mobile apps

The Olympian App

View Newsletters

Subscriptions
  • Start a Subscription
  • Customer Service
  • eEdition
  • Contests-Promotions
  • Vacation Hold
  • Rewards
  • Pay Your Bill
Learn More
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletters
  • News in Education
  • Photo Store
  • Archives
Advertising
  • Information
  • Place a Classified
  • Local Deals
  • Place an Obituary
  • Today's Circulars
  • Special Sections
Copyright
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service


Back to Story