XPost: alt.society.liberalism, alt.california, sac.politics   
   XPost: alt.politics.democrats   
   From: bliss@mouse-potato.com   
      
   On 8/30/23 23:21, useapen wrote:   
      
   Snip   
      
   > 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.   
      
   	DEA agents wanted to keep their jobs so they lied about a lot   
   of things.  Why should they stop now?   
   >   
   > “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.   
      
   	Actually use of Fentanyl in anesthesia and in controlled hospital   
   environments is quite safe.   
      
   >   
   > 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 the downtown collapse is due to the absense of office   
   workers now working from home.  The AI business is coming to SF and will   
   require millions of square feet of presently empty office space.   
      
   >   
   > “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’.   
      
   	Some San Franciscans are but others are not.   
   >   
   > “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.   
      
   Why people left San Francisco during the pandemic is simple. The   
   businesses they worked for and in were closed by the pandemic   
   restrictions. They lost their jobs and could not pay their rent.   
   So they moved back to their parents or other relatives in other places.   
   Since the 1960s when I move to San Francisco, property speculation has   
   been rampant.  I moved into this building in 1974 at $125/mo and with   
   rent control the present rent is $625/mo.  If I was to move in today to   
   a studio apartment the rent would be about $1500-$2000+/month.  Los   
   Angeles probably has more home owners and did in the past even have   
   lower rent but it does not have the air conditioning supplied by the   
   geographic location of San Francisco between the Bay and the Pacific   
   Ocean   
      
   >   
   > Brown said progressive policies which allow wellness hubs and harm-   
   > reduction programs only serve as incubators for drug traffickers.   
      
   	The opinions of law enforcement officers are inclined toward   
   punitive means which were in place for over 100 years during which   
   alcohol and other drug use soared.   
   >   
   > “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.   
      
   	Probably due to sloppy work in the labs.   
   >   
   > 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.   
   >   
   > “As long as we have these liberal policies that think you can put your   
   > arms around a problem and just ‘hug’ it away, this will only continue to   
   > grow,” Brown said.   
      
   	Well his approach failed for over 100 years since the 1916 Harrison   
   Narcotics Act.  People want to use drugs and since we fail   
   to properly educate them as to the dangers and side effects they pick   
   the most dangerous drugs to escape whatever mental or physical pain   
   they are suffering.  America has had a drug culture since the first   
   European Colonists arrived and is/was a major producer of drugs and   
   alcohol.  Tobacco was one of the first and lately the prescripion   
   opiates have caused immense harm due to marketing.   
   >   
   > “All across the board, you see progressive policies in California,   
   > Colorado, Portland, Washington, New York that support harm reduction. That   
   > is like trying to train a rattlesnake not to bite you. It’s a political   
   > issue at this point and until the politics are resolved, the criminality   
   > won’t be resolved either.”   
   >   
   > Yorkville90   
   > 22 August, 2023   
   >   
   > This is the goal, so I don’t understand the complaints. Fentanyl is   
   > allowed to come into our country. That’s what we want or we would stop it.   
   > We don’t want to prosecute crimes and let criminals off with no   
   > repercussions. That’s what we have. We are achieving what was set out to   
   > be accomplished. We should be rejoicing, not complaining. Congratulations   
   > on a job well done, American politicians!   
   >   
   > Weasel1   
   > 22 August, 2023   
   >   
   > At the risk of being callous, isn’t this attrition benefitting society?   
   > Every man’s death diminishes me, as the saying goes, but for the most part   
   > these deaths are not sudden nor unexpected, those participating in the   
   > hard drug culture are assuming that risk when they choose to indulge.   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)