Inside Seattles open-air drug crisis as fentanyl ravages city and activists bail out alleged criminals

SEATTLE — fentanyl crisis is impossible to hide from public view, with open-air drug use, rising overdose deaths and struggling addicts highlighting the challenges facing city leaders and community advocates.

Hector, an addict, told that he has been having a “hard time” and that the most common drug used in the area is “Fetty,” and cautioned young people to stay away from it. 

“The younger people, don’t waste their lives on drugs,” Hector said. “It’s a waste of time, waste of money, waste of life.”

We Heart Seattle, an organization founded by Andrea Suarez in the fall of 2020 to clean up public spaces and offer resources to people in need, has tried to help Hector multiple times. 

Suarez told Fox News Digital that she believes the city, which recently elected in November, is not doing enough to address the crisis.  

“We are the only outreach agency that’s actually advocating for people to be held accountable for their own safety and the safety of others,” Suarez said. “Because hands-off, live and let live. And drug users are people too, and we’re the problem. We caused the trauma because of systemic racism and poverty and capitalism and, like, all this ideology has just taken such a stronghold in Seattle, that it’s more of a do-nothing attitude by our politicians and that activists are so loud here that they will even bail people out of jail who are very harmful to the community because they are anti-incarceration of any kind.” 

In an obtained by Fox News Digital, Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes wrote that “all charges related to drug possession and/or drug use will be diverted from prosecution to the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program,” but Wilson denied claims that her administration was changing .

Suarez said the city should pursue stronger policies to address the crisis.

“So if you make that penalty stronger, and you can arrest a person for tenting and using narcotics in a park, suddenly six months or a year in jail may deter you from using in a public space and also accept help,” Suarez said. 

“As outreach workers, you know, why do we get burned out? Because we can’t make a difference without teeth, without law, without law enforcement,” she continued. “So better legislation and stiffer penalties around using in these shared spaces and holding the low barrier properties like tiny houses and hotels and permanent supportive housing that allow drug dealers and drug using within their properties, that if they are a nuisance to the community, they should be fined and would force a good neighborhood agreement.” 

Local outlet KOMO News reported on April 16 that the Syringe Services Program Health Survey found that in 2021, 93% of respondents reported injecting drugs. By 2025, however, 90% said they had smoked drugs in the previous week, while injections had dropped to 44%.

The Roosevelt News, another local outlet, reported last year that King County recorded 1,067 drug poisoning deaths in 2023 due to fentanyl, a 47% increase from the previous year.  

According to the Addictions, Drug, and Alcohol Institute at the University of Washington, rates in King, Pierce, and Spokane Counties more than quadrupled between 2002-2004 and 2024-2025.

The United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) <a href="https://www.dea.gov/press-releases