SEATTLE — On Tuesday, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell and 36 other mayors from across the United States sent a letter to Congress asking them to pass President Biden's supplemental funding request to address the opioid crisis.
Besides Harrell, 14 other Washington mayors signed onto the letter, the most out of any other state leaders. These included Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin, Bellevue Mayor Lynne Robinson and Olympia Mayor Cheryl Selby, among others.
The bipartisan signed letter also included the mayors of San Francisco, Washington D.C., Portland and Cleveland.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 100,000 Americans died from fatal overdoses in 2022, with 70% of those deaths caused by fentanyl or synthetic opioids.
“President’s Biden supplemental funding request takes a much-needed dual public health and public safety approach, helping those with substance use disorder access life-saving treatment options, while also deploying more resources to stop narcotics from entering our communities and holding traffickers accountable,” said Mayor Bruce Harrell in a statement.
The supplemental funding request from the Biden administration includes $1.5 billion in grant funding, which provides funding for drug treatment, harm reduction services, naloxone or Narcan kits, hiring of more personnel and recovery support services through the Department of Health and Human Services State Opioid Response (SOR).
According to the letter, the SOR grant program has served over 1.2 million people and has bought 9 million overdose reversal kits, reversing about 500,000 overdoses nationwide.
Another $1.2 billion is included in the request for law enforcement funding to prevent fentanyl trafficking across the border. The money would go to Homeland Security Investigations and Immigration and Customs Enforcement to hire more investigative personnel and obtain more advanced detection technology.
New addiction treatment center in Monroe
As communities wait for more funding from federal, state, and local agencies, private clinics are helping fill the need. Ideal Option just opened a location in Monroe. April Provost, Community Outreach Coordinator for the clinic, said it is a much-needed resource.
"The community has recognized the need for solutions to the issues we're seeing on our streets every day," Provost said. "It's rampant. It's devasting when you can't take your kids to the park or down by the river because there's glass from broken drug pipes, needles, pieces of foil."
Provost is working to help this community because she knows it well.
"I have first-hand, intimate knowledge of where those gaps are," she said. She's celebrating almost five years sober. Provost said Ideal Option will work with existing resources in the community to offer those struggling with addiction wrap-around services to keep them on the path to recovery.
Ideal Option, the addiction medicine clinic provides low-barrier treatment for people addicted to fentanyl, meth, heroin, alcohol, and other substances. You can learn more about the services offered by clicking this link.