As Clallam County struggles to fund schools, retain jail staff, and keep essential hospital services, officials are proposing a $100,000 increase to a harm reduction program that hands out free smoking and injection supplies — with no clear data on whether it’s working. Taxpayers are being asked to fund an ever-growing program with no plan for sustainability and no metrics for success.
As local testing scores continue to tumble, Olympic Medical Center warns of critical staffing shortages, and Clallam County struggles to retain enough corrections officers to safely operate the jail — the Clallam County Health & Human Services Department is seeking to boost its “Harm Reduction” program by $100,000.
That would bring the program’s 2025 budget to $320,000, and it doesn’t stop there. The department wants the program to automatically increase each year based on inflation and cost-of-living adjustments — up to 10% annually.
According to Deputy Director of Health and Human Services Jennifer Oppelt, during a June 17th Board of Health meeting, the additional money would replace about $100,000 in federal funding that’s no longer available, and cover “core harm reduction supplies.” These include safer injection equipment, safer smoking kits, STI prevention items, and naloxone, the overdose reversal drug.
Commissioner Mark Ozias supported the general concept, calling it “an absolutely appropriate use” of some funds. But even he expressed concern about the long-term trajectory: Once the opioid settlement funds are exhausted in 2038, what then?
The real question might be: What now?
Hundreds of thousands, no measurable outcomes
Peninsula Behavioral Health CEO Wendy Sisk asked whether any local data exists on how the shift from syringe exchange to free smoking supplies has affected infectious disease rates.
“I don’t have specifics,” was the response from county staff. No studies were cited. No metrics provided. The only trend mentioned: handing out more smoking supplies appears to reduce demand for injection kits.
That’s not to say infection rates are down — just that fewer needles are being requested.
Sisk noted that this entire public health strategy is moving forward without solid data, and that the idea of calling it “prevention” is, in her words, “mystifying.” Most of the people using the services are actively using drugs, she said — and while preventing death matters, it’s not the same as preventing addiction.
And on that point, there is no detox facility in Clallam, Jefferson, or Kitsap counties. “That’s a really big deal,” Sisk said.
Still, the Harm Reduction Center continues expanding. Oppelt reported a significant increase in both naloxone distribution and individuals accessing the program — though again, no figures were provided.
On the ground: Theft, overdoses, and repeat offenders
While funding for prevention, treatment, and enforcement stagnates, social media updates from local law enforcement paint a troubling picture.
On July 2nd, Clallam County deputies arrested Kaleb Gallauher in connection with a burglary north of Sequim. Surveillance footage showed him stealing tools and a welder valued at $2,000. When deputies found him, he was asleep in a vehicle surrounded by meth, fentanyl, and stolen goods.
This wasn’t his first run-in with the law. Gallauher had been arrested and released twice in the previous month for drug-related theft and vandalism.
Meanwhile, major drug suppliers continue operating across the County. Just last month, Justin W. Defrang of Port Angeles was sentenced to 10 years in prison after officers seized over a kilogram of narcotics, including fentanyl, meth, heroin, cocaine, and pills — plus three stolen firearms.
Despite being on active DOC supervision for robbery, Defrang had managed to accumulate this arsenal while avoiding enforcement for months. Only a multi-agency task force finally brought him in.
Addicts and dealers aren’t the only ones suffering from the consumption of drugs in our community.
Where are our priorities?
While it may be uncomfortable to ask these questions, it’s necessary. Because the money is real.
The same county considering a $100,000 increase to a drug-use facilitation program:
Can’t fund detox.
Can’t keep corrections officers.
Can’t afford to fix the county’s most dangerous intersection.
Can’t afford to correct a seasonal flooding issue in Dungeness.
Can’t provide enough support for struggling schools.
Can’t promise that our hospital won’t lose essential services.
And perhaps most concerning, it can’t produce clear outcomes for the program it’s investing so heavily in.
Where is the accountability? What metrics will justify next year’s 10% increase, and the one after that? What’s the plan when settlement money runs out?
Public trust doesn’t come from good intentions. It comes from results.
If Clallam County wants the public to keep paying — in dollars, in safety, and in opportunity — it needs to show its work.
This week on Coffee with Colleen
Peninsula Behavioral Health CEO Wendy Sisk will be on to discuss:
Current Peninsula Behavioral Health services
Potential impacts of the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act"
Update on the North View Housing Project
Click here for instructions on how to view it on Zoom.
Share this post