XPost: alt.society.liberalism, alt.california, sac.politics   
   XPost: alt.politics.democrats   
   From: bliss@mouse-potato.com   
      
   On 8/28/23 22:41, useapen wrote:   
   > San Francisco is being engulfed by a “tidal wave” of overdoses with   
   deadly   
   > fentanyl claiming 62 lives out of 71 total deaths from drug overdoses last   
   > month, according to grim statistics released by city’s Medical Examiner’s   
   > office.   
      
   	Yes and I understand that fentanyl is all over the nation.  Because   
   these drug abusers are unsightly attempts have been underway   
   for years to get them into treatment. This is resisted and is generally   
   a failure until the individual realizes the enomity of his error in   
   judgement.   This has been true of opiate, alcohol, caffeine, sugar and   
   most drugs of abuse.  Since law enforcement by prohibition of opiates   
   and then of alcohol the number of addicted people has risen immensely.   
   >   
   > The liberal Northern California city is in the midst of a crime, homeless   
   > and drugs crisis and the results were released on the same day as a new   
   > report which concluded “City hall is failing” its citizens.   
      
   	It is a limited government and cannot do everything that might   
   be good for the citizens.  The infrastructure is aging and some areas   
   are flooded at very high tides.  Because of the drive for LEOS of   
   character there are absent positions all around the SF Bay Area the   
   last I heard.   
   >   
   > The overdose figures also place San Francisco on course to break a 2020   
   > record for total number of overdoses, when 712 people died according to   
   > the San Francisco Chronicle.   
   >   
   > “This tidal wave of fentanyl continues to overwhelm our communities,” Dr.   
   > Grant Colfax, San Francisco health department director, told the   
   > newspaper.   
   >   
   > “The department recognizes that the tragic, continuing rise of overdose   
   > deaths in San Francisco is unacceptable and we want everyone to know we   
   > are responding with urgency and with our full attention.”   
   >   
   > Colfax said his department plans to open 10 more “wellness hubs” where   
   > drug users can get treatment, but that model has drawn criticism after the   
   > controversial $22 million Tenderloin Linkage Center was shut down last   
   > December.   
   >   
   > Critics said the center only created more problems and crime as addicts   
   > openly used drugs inside. City officials have said open use of narcotics   
   > in such areas was never technically legally allowed.   
   >   
   > San Francisco health officials are scrambling to find ways to address the   
   > uptick in overdose deaths, pushing to make medications such as methadone   
   > and Narcan more available throughout the city.   
   >   
   > However, former senior DEA special agent Michael Brown told The Post   
   > liberal policies are a part of the problem that has lead to the explosion   
   > of overdoses in cities across the country.   
   >   
   > “At some point, you have to realize these drug reduction methods and   
   > allowing open-drug use is a complete and utter failure.   
   >   
   > “These progressive harm-reduction programs say, ‘It’s OK to use   
   fentanyl.   
   > We’ll help you use it safely. Come into my injection site location and we   
   > will give you Narcan.’ This isn’t a Lazarus moment. There is no safe way   
   > to use drugs and we have to come out and say fentanyl is deadly. Period,”   
   > said Brown, who is now global director of counter-narcotics technology at   
   > Rigaku Analytical Devices.   
      
   	I do not think anyone in the San Francisco government thinks that doing   
   Fentanyl is a good idea.  Injection sites have been discouraged due to   
   the legal complications.  As to the addicted using   
   drugs within the hub at least medical supplies and personnel were at   
   hand to keep the OD deaths down.   
   >   
   > Open drug use continues at all hours in the Tenderloin area of San   
   > Francisco, with homeless addicts passing out on the streets overnight, who   
   > only move in the daytime when crews from local non-profits try to clean   
   > the streets in the early morning.   
   >   
   > San Francisco residents said the drug and homelessness problem, and the   
   > exodus of businesses have contributed to the collapse of the once thriving   
   > Downtown area, according to a study released by TogetherSF and the Rose   
   > Institute of State and Local Government at Claremont McKenna College.   
      
   Actually it was the prolonged shutdown of Covid which threw a wrench   
   into everyone's plans.  Lots of local business have shut down which   
   means that eventually there will be just that many openings for new   
   businesses.  There seems to be a lot of tourists in town or at least   
   last week when I was out and about more it seems so.   
   	The Tenderloin is a relatively small area but the problem of   
   unhoused people is very visibly there but also in more residedental   
   neighborhoods.   
   >   
   > “San Franciscans are pessimistic about the future of their city, with more   
   > than three-quarters of voters saying the City is headed down the ‘wrong   
   > track’.   
   >   
   > “In recent surveys, voters cite housing affordability, homelessness, and   
   > crime as some of the most vexing problems facing the City,” the study   
   > said, placing the blame on City Hall.   
   >   
   > The study also noted San Francisco lost 7.5% of its population in a two   
   > year period between 2020 and 2022, many more people than comparable urban   
   > areas such as Los Angeles, which lost only 1.1% of its population in the   
   > same time.   
   >   
   > Brown said progressive policies which allow wellness hubs and harm-   
   > reduction programs only serve as incubators for drug traffickers.   
   >   
   > “When you look at the Tenderloin, these have become controlled   
   > experimental groups for the cartel,” he said.   
   >   
   > “When they have a new drug to test, they go to this open drug market   
   > because there isn’t going to be any interference from the police. They   
   > view addicts as limitless test rats who are willing to put something new   
   > in their arm if you tell them it’s the next best thing to get that high.”   
   >   
   > Another drug that has been introduced into the pipeline is flurofentanyl—   
   > another synthetic drug that appears as a white crystalline solid, but has   
   > been blended into other drugs by traffickers.   
   >   
   > Flurofentanyl — which has a side effect of slowing a user’s heart rate   
   > down and causing irregular breathing — was found in dozens of overdoses in   
   > San Francisco last year, according to the medical examiner’s office.   
   >   
   > While San Francisco Mayor London Breed brought in the National Guard and   
   > California Highway Patrol officers to help combat trafficking and other   
   > drug-related crimes, critics said a lack of arrests and prosecution won’t   
   > deter addicts and drug-traffickers.   
   >   
      
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    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)