by Lupe Velez
Mayor Daniel Lurie is delivering on his promise to address the overdose crisis through well coordinated criminalization efforts, much to the worry of drug policy reformers and harm reduction advocates. Throughout his campaign last year, he was vocal about the fentanyl crisis, framing overdoses as the most pressing issue his administration would confront. He stated during his inaugural speech, “Widespread drug dealing, public drug use and constantly seeing people in crisis has robbed us of our sense of decency and security.” He has since passed the Fentanyl State of Emergency Ordinance through the Board of Supervisors, stood up a Sixth Street “triage center,” and most recently, set in motion drug raids across the city.
Is it possible the same energy and resources expended on the drug raids and police-riddled “triage center” could be better spent on harm reduction, treatment on demand and housing first initiatives? Tried and failed criminalization efforts have done nothing to mitigate the overdose crisis, and it is antithetical to believe ramping up arrests and police presence would have the opposite effect. Last year, the number of overdose deaths in the city dropped 22% to 633, according to a report from the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office.
Local San Francisco social justice organizations like the Coalition on Homelessness are concerned about the human rights violations taking place during drug raids like the one at Jefferson Square Park that took place on February 27. When the San Francisco Police Department entered the scene, one officer announced, “Everyone is under arrest for being in the park.”
The tenor of City officials responding to the crisis is also cause for concern. Lurie tweeted on March 4, “And if you are dealing drugs in this city, we are coming after you.” San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott echoed the mayor’s talking points in a recent ABC7 News interview. told CBS News 7, “The message is really simple: We’re going to come after you if you’re dealing,” he said. “People that are out using drugs in public: That’s also illegal.” The mayor’s and SFPD’s unwavering devotion to arrests highlights issues of rising incarceration rates and increased overdoses: A 2023 Brown University study linked a rise in overdose deaths three weeks after police seized drugs in specific areas.
Despite the City’s claims that it is primarily targeting drug dealers, data from the Public Defender’s Office shows that of the 80 people arrested at Jefferson Square, 29 people were booked for other charges such as loitering or for controlled substance offenses while others were charged for possession of drug paraphernalia. As the City gears up to continue policing drug use, it is failing the people who would benefit most from drug treatment.
