Seattle, King County Will Open Safe Opioid Use Sites

SEATTLE, WA - King County and Seattle leaders decided Friday to accept all of the recommendations of a local opioid task force, which includes opening two safe heroin injection and opioid use sites in the county.

A 40-member task force - including police chiefs from Renton and Auburn, health officials, school officials, and tribal leaders - was convened in March 2016 to figure out how stop overdose deaths in the midst of a large increase in heroin and opioid use in Seattle and the U.S. The Seattle Fire Department, for example, has responded to some 3,700 overdose calls over the last two years alone. King County estimates someone in the county dies every 1-1/2 days of an opioid overdose.

The task force created a list of eight recommendations ranging from spreading awareness about the dangers of heroin to more treatment options. But the idea of opening safe-use sites was the headline issue recommended by the task force.

There is only one site currently in North America, and it's located in Vancouver, B.C. When Seattle and King County open two sites, they will be the first in the U.S. The sites would operate under a three-year pilot, and the locations are yet to be announced. One will be in Seattle, the other will be somewhere in King County.

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray said that work on the sites will begin by figuring out funding and where to put them.

"My visit to Insite, Vancouver, Canada’s safe consumption site, made clear these sites save lives and that is our goal in Seattle-King County," he said in a relaese. "Keeping people alive gives them the opportunity to get treatment and begin their path to recovery."

The sites would be staffed with medical personnel who would supervise opioid use and provide assistance to anyone in trouble. Earlier this month, three people died in in North Seattle on the same day - the possible result of an overly-strong batch of heroin. Meanwhile, Seattle police have reported saving at least three people from overdoses recently using Naloxone.

“Opioid addiction is killing people in our community, sparing no age, race, sexual identity, income level or neighborhood,” King County Executive Dow Constantine said in a release. “The experts we brought together have provided us with the battle plan we need to defeat this epidemic – a plan to save lives, to make it easier for people to get the help they need, to prevent the devastating harm that addiction causes. Unless we are willing to let this suffering continue, we have an obligation to turn their plan into action."

The other recommendations from the task force include increasing public awareness about opioids, and making treatment more accessible - including actual treatment services, and the availability of buprenorphine. Another focus is prevention, in particular trying to prevent addictions that begin with prescription drugs.

You can read the full list of recommendations here. King County has produced this video about the task force recommendations.

Image via Pixabay