Friday, October 2, 2026
A recent column about an incident involving a homeless man in downtown Olympia drew a provocative comment from a reader.
He reported seeing someone “Standing . . . hunched over with his arms hanging down. His eyes were closed and he swayed back n forth. I asked him, "Do you need some help?" He didn't respond.
We see this a lot in our community now and it worries both of us. I'm not sure how I could make it better — we don't go out much anymore because of it. It's not apathy it's self-preservation.
Years ago, I spent a lot of volunteer time with homeless adults at Camp Quixote, a self-governing tent camp that moved every few months from one church parking lot to another. In 2013, camp residents moved into permanent housing at Quixote Village.
Like many other volunteers, I spent a lot of time with people who had struggled with alcohol or drug addiction. I’m no expert, but I did learn a lot from the people I came to know. More recently, I’ve sought out more information about fentanyl, which wasn’t in wide use during my Camp Quixote volunteer years.
1. Fentanyl, methamphetamine and alcohol top the list.
What our JOLT commenter witnessed was a person in the “fentanyl fold,” a signature symptom of recent fentanyl use. This person was standing still, but sometimes you might see someone walking around with this odd-looking, bent over posture.
The first thing this commenter should know is that people who are high on fentanyl are so tranquilized they’re weak and harmless. The sight of them might make people uncomfortable, but they do not present any danger.
When the fentanyl wears off, if users don’t have more they go into withdrawal — a severe sickness that can include nausea, shaking, muscle and bone pain, diarrhea, sweating and chills, insomnia — and of course intense craving for more fentanyl.
Any logical person will ask why someone would take a drug — either fentanyl or its cousin heroin — that leads to such intense misery. It’s because before the withdrawal there is profound comfort and pleasure. Opiates — smoked, taken as pills, or injected — have seduced people since papaver somniferum, a species of poppy, was discovered to relieve pain and cause profound calm and feelings of well-being.
Fentanyl and other opioids are not our only drug problem; they’re just the most visible these days. Methamphetamines are also still in wide use. The difference between opioids and meth is that opioids make people feel calm and loved, and meth makes them feel energetic and smart.
2. Telling people to just suck it up and stop using drugs doesn’t help.
What does help is offering people respect, compassion, and access to the treatment they need when they’re ready for it.
The 6-month-old Franklin Street Harm Reduction Center helps people find and choose the kind of treatment they need, along with health care, employment help, and other life-restoring services.
Public health agencies, nonprofits, and the Chehalis and Nisqually tribes all now provide treatment services in Thurston County, though there’s still usually a monthlong wait for inpatient treatment. We hope government budget cuts don’t stall the progress in treatment quality and availability.
3. Prevention starts at birth, or even before
Taking better care of pregnant women, babies and children could substantially reduce addiction, mental illness and homelessness. Parental drug use and childhood trauma and suffering damage people. Healing can be a herculean challenge. That’s why I’m now a volunteer board member of Family Education and Support Services, a nonprofit that helps parents raise healthy children.
The late-night confidences Camp Quixote residents shared with me made that plain as day. They were often devastating and unforgettable.
I was surprised by how many men had been sexually abused as children and never had anyone they could tell. For men raised in a homophobic culture, this abuse was a cause of unspeakable shame. Sexual abuse of girls was more commonplace. One woman, when we shared stories from our youth said, “Really? In your whole life you’ve only been raped once?”
I also heard harrowing tales of bloody parental fights in the middle of the night, police in the kitchen, long periods left home alone, and empty cupboards and refrigerators.
Many camp residents had been raised by parents who were addicted. One woman told me her mom had been the town’s heroin dealer. “That was back in the day when one heroin dealer was enough for the whole town,” she chuckled.
She was one of many whose parents shared their alcohol or drugs with their kids. A man in his 30s had parents who thought 12 was old enough to inject a little heroin. He said “Getting high was the first time I ever felt good.”
That man in the fentanyl fold might have had a similar experience.
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Obajasay211
Thank you Jill, for your compassionate and informative response to what is probably a common experience these days on the streets of Olympia, especially downtown. With respect to drugs, drug use, addiction, and the underlying pathologies that cause so much suffering, and leave many people living on the streets, there is a great deal of misinformation, disinformation, and ignorance. As you point out, constructive responses begin by being informed, non-judgemental, and kind. Beyond that, there are both public and private efforts to address the problem with which we can be involved if we care to be. Most of all, it's best to regularly remind ourselves that there, but for fortune, go you, or I, or our children, or our families, friends, and neighbors.
Friday, February 13 Report this
wellnow77
Spot on article, Jill! Thank you,
Friday, February 13 Report this
LivinginthePNW
Thank you for your article, and I'd like to provide an alternative opinion - as someone who believes drug addiction is a public health issue, and not a criminal one, I do believe for that to work we can't allow public intoxication, whether it is alcohol or fentanyl. Because whether an individual high on drugs is or isn't *actually* a threat, as women, perhaps with children, we must instinctively consider anyone not-in-their-right-mind a threat. Dealing with individuals with drug addiction is one issue we as a society can work on, but tolerating public use and intoxication isn't the same issue, and allowing it I believe hinders our efforts on finding compassion for individuals that are addicts. Even if your homeless, you can find places outside of our downtown corridor to get high, by doing it on Capitol and 4th Ave, you've past my tolerance of compassion, and I have a lot.
Saturday, February 14 Report this
Porter
I encountered a man laying across a curb next to our building not breathing just yesterday. I touched his ankle and said hello. He popped up and started jabbering nonsense. I went and got him a gatorade, a banana and some leftover dinner. His name is Alex. He scarfed the food down and I left him to his devices.
Saturday, February 14 Report this
Snevets
Thank you for your compassion and sharing of info. Jill. Me & my husband will continue to frequent downtown because there's so much more to it.
Saturday, February 14 Report this
johnvaneenwyk
Thank you for this informative article. I have been going downtown for the last 34 years. I often walk the alleys, sometimes at night. I have never encountered anything that even seems dangerous or distasteful (except, of course, for urine in the alleys - but with virtually no public toilets downtown, it’s understandable). As for homeless people being violent (eg: yelling loudly while walking down the street), much of their seemingly aggressive behavior is self-protection: It’s designed to keep people away.
One issue that is rarely discussed about drug use is this: Why do people need the mood alterations they provide? We might take a look at the spirit of the times and the challenges people face: unemployment, employment in soul-sucking jobs that enrich billionaires, politically rewarding polarization of society, inequality in medical care, schools, social services, and so on, and so on. Opening debate of these issues rapidly reveals that homelessness is not the problem, it is for most homeless people the only solution.
Saturday, February 14 Report this
Annierae
Thank you for this compassionate article, Jill. I agree, these people deserve our empathy. Most, if not all, are self-medicating childhood (or later) traumas. And some were perscribed pain medication for legitimate physical pain, only to find it excruciatingly difficult and painful to withdraw from. I too hope for increased funding and access to legitimate rehab opportunities. Bravo for FESS and people like you who support them.
Saturday, February 14 Report this
BillSpencer
Thank you for sharing this. This offers nuance and perspective on this complicated issue. Every now & then I'm walking downtown and sometimes there are people that make me nervous. I'm not really sure if their shifty behavior is drugs or mental health issues. So it's like I sympathize with their situation and vote accordingly (we need to tax the wealthy and fund permanent supportive housing/behavioral health) but also I gotta protect myself and steer clear of these troubled people.
Monday, February 16 Report this
Mugwump
Treatment for substance abuse disorder needs to be much more available for those who need it. It should be paired with supportive housing and intensive social work to ensure that those who can wean themselves off drugs and alcohol stay clean. Treatment should never devolve into warehousing human beings for profit.
But also, I think there comes a time when we have to accept that some people will never seek help for untreated substance abuse disorder or mental illness. What to do in those cases? Compel treatment or leave people on the street to suffer and slowly die? If you believe, as I do, that these people have lost their ability to make healthy decisions for their lives the choice is rather obvious. It is not a moral judgement on their lives or decisions. It is acknowledgment of reality. It is acceptance of responsibility for our brothers and sisters who suffer from cold, hunger, abuse, and exploitation.
Tuesday, February 17 Report this
Martin
The greatest dangers in downtown Olympia are the drivers who consider pedestrians a nuisance to be bounced out of the crosswalks, and the red light runners. I have yet to be bothered by anyone homeless. I live downtown.
Tuesday, February 17 Report this