Candidates weigh in on San Francisco's fentanyl crisis ahead of election
SAN FRANCISCO -- San Francisco's open-air drug crisis and how to deal with it is front of mind for many residents, with less than a month to go before the election.
Supervisor Matt Dorsey says San Francisco's fentanyl problem is the worst public health crisis since the AIDS epidemic. Fentanyl is responsible for three-quarters of the drug overdose deaths in the city this year.
"As somebody who is a recovering addict, who looks at a number and has looked at this number every month, knowing that I'm one bad decision from being there in that group, I know that I'm not alone in that recovering community from feeling that this is personal," Dorsey said.
Dorsey is working on a plan called San Francisco Recovers. If passed, it would require 21 city departments and 6 city commissions to report back on resources needed to respond to the drug crisis.
He points to success in cities like Amsterdam and Lisbon which don't tolerate open-air drug markets
"They actually take a very permissive approach. They actually have things like supervised consumption facilities but those facilities exist precisely so that it is not taking place on the street," Dorsey said. "You don't see blocks taken over by drug scenes and drug dealers the way that you see it in neighborhoods I represent in south of Market."
Dorsey said he's hopeful incumbent district attorney Brooke Jenkins will hold drug dealers accountable. Jenkins is running in the closely watched DA race. Among her opponents is progressive defense attorney John Hamasaki.
"Where I differ with, I think, some of the more heated rhetoric right now is using the policing and criminal justice system as a solution to addiction. Addiction is a medical condition by everyone's definition and it's a public health problem, not a criminal justice problem," Hamasaki said.
Hamasaki said he doesn't believe jail is an effective solution for dealing with drug users.
"All these flash- or quick incarcerations might seem like a good idea. They actually lead to more deaths and overdoses," he said. "So what we need is a public health approach which is having public health professionals in the Tenderloin and other areas that are impacted, trying to get people into treatment."
