NPR

Tired Of Being 'Dope Sick,' A Drug User Gets Help From Police To Get Sober

"Just continually putting people in jail, that's not doing anything for them," says an Everett, Wash. police officer who connected with one drug user, Shannon McCarty, and helped her get off drugs.
Shannon McCarty in her new apartment in Everett, Wash. Shannon was a meth and heroin user, but is in recovery with the help of a police program that connects people who use drugs with services.

Two key ingredients came together for Shannon McCarty to get off drugs in late 2017: connections and timing.

"The police showed up because they said they got a call that we were shooting up in the car," Shannon said.

Everett police officer, Inci Yarkut walked up to window of the car where Shannon was living.

"I explained who I was and what my role in the police department was," Yarkut said, and she gave Shannon a business card. "[I] said, 'Hey, if there's something that we can do for you — because I think there are things that we can do for you, that we can help you — give me a call."

That connection would prove vital for Shannon to get off

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