Blaming addicts for Burlington's problems misses the point

Blaming addicts for Burlington's problems misses the point

This commentary is by Hannah Riley Fernandez, the director of programming at the Center for Just Journalism.  A recent feature in the Atlantic argues that treating addiction as a health crisis instead of a crime has turned cities like Seattle and Burlington into wreckage, and that the fix is more policing and forced treatment. It’s a well-written story. It’s also completely wrong, and the timing is bad: Burlington’s city council is debating a re…