How San Francisco is changing its response to drug addiction
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District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey attends a rally in support of Mayor Daniel Lurie's Fentanyl State of Emergency Ordinance. Photo: Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images
San Francisco is changing its approach to addressing drug addiction with a new policy emphasizing treatment.
Why it matters: The city has for years been grappling with a deadly drug epidemic fueled largely by fentanyl.
Driving the news: Last week, Mayor Daniel Lurie signed District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey's "Recovery First" ordinance to guide the city's response to addressing substance abuse with an emphasis on long-term remission and drug-free living as its primary goals.
The big picture: With this new approach, San Francisco will be prioritizing programs that help people find treatment and stay sober in the long run, instead of short-term solutions that "do the very least" for helping drug users, according to Dorsey.
What they're saying: "If there are people who are choosing to use drugs and who are resistant to getting in recovery, we should at least make their drug use safer. But the reality is that is literally the least we can do — we should be doing more," Dorsey, a recovering addict, told Axios. "Having a statement of policy that is a clear, self-directed and healthy life, free from illicit drug use is what we're aspiring to through the process of recovery."
Catch up quick: The largely symbolic piece of legislation builds on Lurie's efforts to combat the city's converging homelessness and addiction crises that he's been addressing with initiatives like a new $37.5 million fund for mental health and housing services, an emergency fentanyl ordinance and addition of 279 new treatment beds.
Between the lines: The new policy also comes amid the mayor's campaign to roll back some harm reduction programs, a practice that has helped save lives and prevent overdoses but faces criticism for enabling addiction.
- "Our goal is not only to keep people alive, but to ensure people have access to drug treatment where they can overcome addiction and get their lives back," said Steve Adami, executive director of the Way Out, a recovery-focused homelessness initiative of The Salvation Army.
The other side: Jennifer Friedenbach, executive director at the Coalition on Homelessness, said a lack of stable housing has been a big contributor to people falling back into addiction. While harm reduction has also been a crucial tool, the demand for resources has been too high to see visible results.
- "Why are people seeing so much visible drug use?," she said. "It's not that the system failed, from a perspective of the programs not working. It's failed because there's not enough capacity in the system in these programs to treat everybody who needs it."
The bottom line: While Dorsey said he is not against harm reduction due to the non-linear nature of recovery, he hopes this new approach will better demonstrate the city's commitment to getting people help and off the streets.
What's next: He plans on introducing more legislation in the coming weeks, including another ordinance outlining pathways for drug-free and recovery-oriented options in permanent supportive housing.