Inside Seattle’s open-air drug crisis as fentanyl ravages city and activists bail out alleged criminals
SEATTLE — Seattle’s With outdoor drug use, rising overdose deaths, and struggling addicts, it is impossible to hide the fentanyl crisis from the public; highlights the challenges facing city leaders and community advocates.
Hector, an addict, told Fox News Digital He stated that he was “going through hard times”, that the most used drug in the region was “Fetty”, and warned young people to stay away from this substance.
“Young people, don’t waste your lives on drugs,” Hector said. “It’s a waste of time, a waste of money, a waste of life.”
We Heart Seattle, an organization founded by Andrea Suarez in the fall of 2020 to clean public spaces and provide resources to people in need, has tried to help Hector many times.
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Hector and Andrea Suarez, founders of We Heart Seattle, March 16, 2026.
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Suarez told Fox News Digital he believes in the recently selected city. socialist Mayor Katie Wilson He is not making enough efforts to find a solution to the crisis in November.
“We are the only social welfare organization that truly advocates for people to be held accountable for their safety and the safety of others,” Suarez said. “Because The culture here is very good Drop your hands, live and let live. Drug users are people too and we are the problem. “We’ve caused trauma because of systemic racism and poverty and capitalism, and this whole ideology has gained such a stronghold in Seattle that it’s more of a do-nothing attitude of our politicians and the activists here are so loud that they’ll even release people from prison who are so detrimental to society because they’re against any form of incarceration.”
One internal email According to information obtained by Fox News Digital, Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes wrote that “all charges related to drug possession and/or drug use will be transferred from prosecution to the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program,” but Wilson denied claims that his administration had changed. drug enforcement policy.
Suarez said the city needs to pursue stronger policies to address the crisis.
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Andrea Suarez, founder and chief executive of We Heart Seattle, on March 16, 2026.
“So if you make that penalty even stronger and you can arrest someone for pitching a tent in the park and using drugs, all of a sudden a six-month or a year in prison can stop you from using in public and can also stop you from accepting help,” Suarez said.
“You know why we’re burning out as outreach workers? Because without our teeth, without the law, without law enforcement, we can’t make a difference,” she continued. “Therefore, better laws and harsher penalties for the use of these public areas and the keeping of low-barrier properties such as tiny houses and hotels, and permanent supportive housing that allows drug dealers and drug use on their properties, if these are a nuisance to the community, should be fined and enforce a good neighborly agreement.”
local output KOMO News reported On April 16, the Syringe Services Program Health Survey found that 93% of respondents reported injecting drug use in 2021. However, by 2025, 90% of participants said they had used drugs in the previous week, while the rate of injecting had dropped to 44%.
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Needles lie on the ground near Daejeon Park in Seattle on March 16, 2026.
Roosevelt News, another local outlet, reported last year It was stated that King County recorded 1,067 fentanyl-related drug poisoning deaths in 2023, a 47% increase compared to the previous year.
According to the University of Washington Institute on Addiction, Drugs and Alcohol, opioid overdose death Rates in King, Pierce and Spokane Counties more than four times Between 2002-2004 and 2024-2025.
United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) reported in November The agency reported seizing approximately 3.4 million potentially lethal doses of fentanyl from two drug trafficking groups targeted in investigations in the Western District of Washington.
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A Seattle city street with a homeless camp on March 16, 2026.
“Hardcore people who are major opioid users who have been on the streets for years, if not decades, will tell you that drug addition to drugs is not the way to help a drug addict,” Suarez said. “It’s not thousands of dollars of drugs, it’s how to help if you really want to help. A lot of times that ends up being a subsidy for the drug addict, it’s really just used to kind of enable them and trap them.” dependence “And we’ve also seen it firsthand.”
Suarez also emphasized that the work of some local left-wing activist groups has made it harder to reduce homelessness and crime committed by those looking for a quick buck to find their next fix. He told Fox News Digital that these groups generally oppose any form of incarceration, regardless of the alleged crime.
The Northwest Community Bail Fund (NCBF) in Seattle, along with other similar groups, aims to reduce the harms of the cash bail system, posting bail to people who often cannot afford it. These groups that are emphasized in some way CBS News storyargues that cash bail disproportionately affects low-income individuals.
Victims of violent crimes previously these groups We rescued people who were a danger to the public.
Similar to Hector, Erica is another addict that Suarez and We Heart Seattle are trying to help.
“So this is a common barrier to accepting services and treatment; Erica does not want to be separated from her dog under any circumstances,” Suarez said. “So, even though we offered to provide him with a kennel…we’re going to pay for people to kennel their dogs while they go to treatment. And he said, ‘Absolutely not.’ So he’s got two fingers cut off, he’s living on the sidewalk, and his nose is frozen.”
A 24-year-old homeless man smokes fentanyl on March 12, 2022, in Seattle.
Suarez, Dr. in Seattle. He said the demolition of a pavilion and picnic area in Jose Rizal Park is symbolic of the current drug crisis.
“It’s very, very bittersweet to talk about this, because this pavilion was recently demolished because it was untenable due to drug use and fire. People were filleted here,” Suarez said. “It looked like a tombstone. Neighbors advocated for it to be demolished because its roof was burned. This is what’s left.”
Only the ruins of the mansion and scorched cement remained.
A homeless man holds a piece of aluminum foil that he used to smoke fentanyl on March 13, 2022 in Seattle, Washington.
“This is really emblematic of what our parks in Seattle have become with this kind of landscape, the nearby playgrounds, the drug and fentanyl use, and what all of that has become. civil liberties Suarez added: “They really have priority and priority, they really have priority over civil liberties.” “And so it was very, very difficult to see that come down, even just a few months ago.”
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Fox News Digital reached out to Wilson and King County Public Health for comment but did not immediately hear back.
Original article source: Inside Seattle’s open-air drug crisis as fentanyl sweeps the city and activists rescue alleged criminals
