Native American tribe plans to build opioid treatment center; Washington state neighbors vow to

[TexasTowelie]

Native American tribe plans to build opioid treatment center; Washington state neighbors vow to block it


SEQUIM, Wash. - One morning last year, Brent Simcosky stepped out of a pickup truck in the middle of a sprawling field off Highway 101, stood in grass that brushed his knees and imagined an oasis from the scourge of opioids.

The epidemic had struck particularly hard here in Clallam County, where generations of families from the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe live along the waterways of the Salish Sea. Simcosky, health director for the 537-member tribe, had too often seen the battered faces of neighbors and community members addicted to black tar heroin that sells for $5 a hit or to pain pills that for years saturated this remote corner of the Pacific Northwest.

Jamestown tribe leaders invested in schools, farming and aquaculture, spreading shells along the tidelands so oysters could grow. Simcosky had multimillion-dollar tribal and state commitments to finance a state-of-the art outpatient opioid treatment and healing center that would combine native practices with counseling, medical care and medications known to block the euphoric effects of opioids.

Standing in the 20-acre field, he pictured meeting rooms that faced the Olympic Mountains. A reflecting pool where patients could practice meditation. Activities that brought tribal traditions to the young.

Read more: https://www.lmtonline.com/news/article/Native-American-tribe-plans-to-build-opioid-15349516.php
(Laredo Morning Times)

[RainCaster]

1. I'm with the tribe on this one

Not only is this needed, the nimby BS is so racist. Sequim needs to listen better to their neighbors.