Seattle, WA – Several Seattle City Council members have announced that they plan to move forward with multi-million dollar, taxpayer-funded proposal to purchase a massive recreation vehicle that would provide intravenous drug users with a space to shoot up.
One city council member said she would even like to look into the option of providing illegal drugs for users.
The estimated startup costs associated with the project amount to $1.8 million, not including the $2.5 million in additional taxpayer dollars that would be needed to operate it, KCPQ reported.
“We were looking at those city-owned and county-owned properties, but none were really viable that were appropriate,” Seattle Human Services Department representative Meg Olberding told KIRO.
Instead of a brick-and-mortar location, project proponents began exploring the concept of a “fixed-mobile” site, which would allow the RV to be moved to a set location each day, then taken back to a secure facility off-site for cleaning and maintenance at night, KIRO reported.
“It is an option where we would actually lease or go into an agreement regarding a fixed site,” Human Services Department health strategist Jeff Sakuma explained during a June 7 council committee meeting. “This is potentially a very large vehicle that we would then house the consumption activity in.”
The RV would offer accommodations including booths where addicts could use illegal drugs and a separate section designated for recovery.
“We would want to make sure we provide a safe area, not only for the neighbors but for the individuals who are using as well,” Sakuma told the council.
During the meeting, council members Sally Bagshaw and Debora Juarez urged proponents of the “safe injection site” plan to go out into the community to convert those who opposed the concept.
“A particular group of people shows up at every one of my community meetings to come at me over that [issue],” an apparently exasperated Juarez said. “You can only do so much.”
“No one deserves to die behind a 7-Eleven,” she added.
Read the rest at: Heroin
