Spokane Council reestablishes downtown alcohol impact area and adopts community health impact area requiring Narcan at paraphernalia sales

The Spokane City Council on Feb. 3 voted 6-0 to reestablish an alcohol impact area (ordinance C-36-6-34) for downtown Spokane and to adopt a separate community health impact area (ordinance C-36-6-35) that requires businesses selling smoking or other paraphernalia in the defined downtown zone to make naloxone available during transactions.

Supporters said the measures are tools to improve public safety and reduce visible harms downtown; opponents, including harm-reduction advocates and medical trainees, warned the paraphernalia rules risk reducing access to safer supplies and would shift costs to small businesses.

Raelynn Barton, director of policy and membership for the Downtown Spokane Partnership, told the council the lapse of the alcohol impact area in 2022 coincided with increased public intoxication, litter and drug violations downtown. "Reestablishing the AIA is crucial to ensuring a safer, more welcoming environment for our residents, businesses, and visitors," Barton said, adding the Business Improvement District tracked "over 50 instances in the Business Improvement District of littering in just one month alone." Barton also supported regulating sales of items directly correlated with crime and litter downtown.

Medical students and harm-reduction experts testified sharply against the city requiring business owners who sell smoking supplies or glass to provide naloxone at the point of sale. "From an evidence-based public health perspective, the provision of clean glass is a form of harm reduction that reduces communicable diseases and overdose deaths," said Caitlin Costanza, a first-year medical student at the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine and a member of the Health Equity Circle harm reduction action team. Costanza urged the council to use public funds or public-health distribution channels to get naloxone into the community rather than transfer the cost to businesses. "Requiring businesses to provide Narcan is obviously cost prohibitive," she said.

Morgan Smith, another medical student aligned with the Health Equity Circle, said the ordinance as written "makes this strategy cost prohibitive and ineffective," and urged the council to require data collection on outcomes if the ordinance passes.

Opponents from downtown neighborhoods and some business owners framed the measures differently. Will Hewings, a downtown resident who spoke in opposition, called the ordinances "misguided" and argued they would not address "the root cause of addiction," while other residents asked the council to emphasize law enforcement and outreach simultaneously.

Council members debated the balance between public safety tools and harm-reduction practice. Councilmember Cathcart said the state has not provided needed treatment and that the council must use the tools it still has: "We are out of options... this is at least a tool that we can deploy right now to try to improve the situation." Councilmember Klitzke urged careful monitoring and noted the city does not control public-health providers: "We will continue to pressure these entities to do these things, but we don't have direct authority over any of them." Councilmember Ziffon cited public-health evidence in support of syringe and other exchange programs and said the council should follow outcomes data; Ziffon paraphrased national guidance in describing syringe-service programs as "proven and effective." Several council members emphasized the ordinances are intended as pilot steps that will be monitored and revised if needed.

The council combined public testimony on the two ordinances and then voted on each measure separately. Both ordinances passed with 6-0 tallies.

Votes at a glance

- Ordinance C-36-6-34 (Alcohol Impact Area): creating an alcohol impact area within specific downtown boundaries and adding chapter 10.82 to the Spokane Municipal Code. Tally: yes 6, no 0. Outcome: approved.

- Ordinance C-36-6-35 (Community Health Impact Area): adopting a new Division 7 in chapter 10.81, adding public-health measures to mitigate impacts of addiction and requiring businesses selling paraphernalia downtown to distribute naloxone. Tally: yes 6, no 0. Outcome: approved.

Council discussion and the public testimony reflected three repeated concerns: (1) downtown businesses and residents sought tools to address litter, public intoxication and visible drug use; (2) harm-reduction advocates urged the city and health district to fund naloxone distribution and preserve access to safer smoking supplies; and (3) several council members emphasized monitoring and data collection to assess downstream effects.

Key policy details and clarifications from the meeting

- The community health impact area does not ban sale of paraphernalia outright; it requires sellers in the defined downtown zone who offer items used to consume illegal drugs to distribute naloxone and to submit data as specified in the ordinance.

- Opponents argued that removing access to clean smoking supplies can increase the public-health harms that harm-reduction programs seek to reduce; supporters said limiting downtown sales of certain items reduces predatory sales and street litter.

- Several medical-testimony speakers asked that the Spokane Regional Health District or other public-health entities distribute naloxone to businesses for free rather than shifting costs to small-business owners.

What happens next

Both ordinances take effect per the dates and processes set out in the adopted text and will be implemented by city code staff and enforcement arms named in the ordinances. Councilmembers said they will seek outcome data and engage the Spokane Regional Health District and service providers to monitor effects and adjust policy as needed.

Sources and provenance

This report is based on the Feb. 3, 2025 Spokane City Council legislative meeting transcript and the council's recorded roll-call votes and public testimony.