Dear Vashon Community -
I want to share some alarming numbers in regards to the drug rehab proposed at the VCC building. This is not a Native American issue, this is an addict issue. They have already stated they will take anybody from anywhere.
Below my sources are the https://www.sihb.org/services-and-programs/thunderbird-treatment-center,
The Beachcomber, SeattlePi.com, https://wstc.wa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/2023-25-FerryOperationsAppropriations.pdf, Americanaddictioncenters.org.
From their website Thunderbird states they want 92 beds, rotating every 45 days. That means every year 736 addicts will be ferried to this community. 736.
Thunderbird claims 60 percent will graduate their program (national average is only 42%). That’s 293 addicts who will leave the building possibly angry, desperate, erratic... Will they leave the island on their own? Will they wait in a long ferry line? What about when there are no ferries? The ferry situation can be maddening to a clean person. This island location cannot be compared to any other rehab statistics in regards to crime.
Quote from Americanaddictioncenters.org, “In fact, research indicates that up to 75% of individuals who begin treatment for a SUD report having engaged in physical assault, mugging, using a weapon to attack another person, and other violent crimes.2
Potentially, that means 75% of the 293 would likely have committed violent crimes.
When addicts are desperate they behave desperately. A year and a half ago, two of my friends, on the north end, were in their yard when they were threatened by an addict with a knife, after assaulting another couple inside their home.
And I have personal experience with an addict. After I got them into rehab, they walked out the first night, showed up at my door, wild-eyed, irrational and violent. Yes, terrifying. After multiple rehabs, they are now fried and permanently irrational and violent. I don't want any of my island neighbors to experience a person like that.
And the money. Five million in taxpayers dollars, for a rehab, on an island that has limited water, emergency services, and access. The rehab rep said they’re working on getting a 24 hour ferry to the island. The smallest ferry costs $558 per hour to run. That’s $4,888,080 per year. It'll cost state taxpayers $1,955,232 per year in subsidies.
The plan to open a large drug rehab on this small island is an expensive waste of taxpayers' money and downright dangerous.
Katy Ballard
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