{"id":2427761,"date":"2025-04-26T07:47:01","date_gmt":"2025-04-26T11:47:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/san-francisco-to-ditch-drug-strategy-move-to-recovery-first-plan\/"},"modified":"2025-04-26T07:53:42","modified_gmt":"2025-04-26T11:53:42","slug":"san-francisco-to-ditch-drug-strategy-move-to-recovery-first-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/san-francisco-to-ditch-drug-strategy-move-to-recovery-first-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"San Francisco to ditch drug strategy, move to recovery-first plan"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fsan-francisco-to-ditch-drug-strategy-move-to-recovery-first-plan%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2427761&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>San Francisco is moving towards a &#8220;recovery frist&#8221; approach to its drug policy, <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">emphasizing abstinence adn <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/tim-tebow-calls-for-an-army-to-fight-one-of-the-greatest-evils-in-the-world-human-trafficking-and-modern-slavery\/\" title=\"Tim Tebow Calls For An Army To Fight One Of The Greatest Evils In The World: Human Trafficking And Modern Slavery\">long-term recovery<\/a><\/a> from addiction. This shift comes in response to growing concerns over the city\u2019s drug epidemic and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/atlantic-city-shutters-needle-exchange-site-amid-spike-in-deadly-overdoses\/\" title=\"Atlantic City Shutters Needle Exchange Site Amid Spike In Deadly Overdoses\">rising overdose deaths<\/a>, wich exceeded 600 last year. Advocates of this new strategy argue that the previous harm reduction methods, such as distributing clean needles and overdose prevention tactics, have not effectively addressed epidemic levels of drug use. They contend thes measures have merely enabled continued substance abuse.<\/p>\n<p>District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey,who is in recovery himself,introduced legislation to prioritize the cessation of illicit drug use. Though, his original abstinence-first proposal faced backlash from harm reduction advocates, leading to a revision that includes broader goals around <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/half-a-million-americans-suffer-from-crohns-disease\/\" title=\"Half You can find more information at Million Americans Suffer From Crohn&#039;s Disease\">long-term remission<\/a> from substance use disorders.<\/p>\n<p>As discussions surrounding the new approach continue,the Board of Supervisors is examining how best to balance compassion for users with the urgent need to combat the ongoing crisis. The debate reflects San Francisco&#8217;s larger struggle over how to tackle drug-related issues effectively, highlighting differing perspectives on the most viable path forward.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">San Francisco tries to ditch its drug strategy, pushes for &lsquo;recovery first&rsquo; plan<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1629061\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/san-francisco\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"San Francisco\">San Francisco<\/a>, which has been moving away from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/progressives\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"progressive policies\">liberal policies<\/a> over the past several months, inched closer this week to adopting a &ldquo;recovery first&rdquo; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/drugs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"drug strategy\">drug strategy<\/a> that pushes&nbsp;abstinence&nbsp;and long-term remission.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The effort has infuriated critics in a city that has pioneered harm reduction. They argue that forcing addicts to stop doing illegal drugs alienates those who are not ready to quit. Supporters say the city has been too lax for too long in its approach to the growing&nbsp;drug epidemic and overdose problem and claim that making drug use safer does little, if anything, to break the cycle of addiction.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/crime\/3390934\/george-santos-sentenced-wire-fraud-identity-theft\/\">George Santos sentenced to seven years in prison on wire fraud and identity theft charges<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/opinion\/3389283\/tesla-vandalism-minnesota-district-attorney-tim-walz-elon-musk-trump-administration\/\">Good ol&#8217; fashioned Minnesota injustice<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/opinion\/3390209\/courage-honor-chicago-officer-5-11\/\">The courage and honor of Chicago officer &#8216;5-11&#8217;<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full is-resized\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Two people on the streets of San Francisco do drugs openly, Oct. 30, 2024. (Barnini Chakraborty\/Washington Examiner)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>In recent years, the city&rsquo;s public health department has encouraged people who do hard drugs such as methamphetamine, heroin, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/fentanyl\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"fentanyl\">fentanyl<\/a> to find a friend so they won&rsquo;t be alone if they overdose.<\/p>\n<p>Residents have expressed outrage at the approach, claiming it does nothing to stop or address drug&nbsp;use, which has been on the rise. The city also has programs to pass out clean needles, with a syringe access program operating seven days a week. The city also hands out Narcan, which reverses an opioid overdose by blocking the effects of the opiate on the brain and by restoring breathing. They also pass out foil and offer free pipes.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sfbos.org\/supervisor-dorsey-district-6\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"District 6&nbsp;Supervisor Matt Dorsey\">District 6&nbsp;Supervisor Matt Dorsey<\/a>,&nbsp;who is in recovery for meth addiction, introduced legislation in February to amend the city code with a single sentence policy that stated: &ldquo;The cessation of illicit drug use and attainment of long-term recovery from substance use disorders shall be the primary objective of the city&#700;s drug policy.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>He defined recovery as abstinence, which included participation in outpatient or residential treatment, a medication-assisted treatment program, a contingency management program, or other recovery programs aimed at getting people off drugs.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/healthcare\/3367809\/san-francisco-walk-back-free-distribution-drug-paraphernalia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"SAN FRANCISCO TO WALK BACK FREE DISTRIBUTION OF DRUG PARAPHERNALIA\"><strong>SAN FRANCISCO TO WALK BACK FREE DISTRIBUTION OF DRUG PARAPHERNALIA<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>His effort was immediately met with resistance from harm-reduction advocates who claimed his definition of &ldquo;recovery&rdquo; was too narrow.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Under pressure from&nbsp;the San Francisco Marin Medical Society, Dorsey amended his proposal, crossing out the &ldquo;abstinence-first&rdquo; approach and adopting a broader &ldquo;long-term remission&rdquo; goal.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Adam Francis, the association&rsquo;s senior editor, told <em>Mission Local<\/em> that the changes ensure &ldquo;there isn&rsquo;t a fight between harm reduction and abstinence.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>After making the change, Dorsey&rsquo;s&nbsp;ordinance advanced to the full 11-member Board of Supervisors. It is unclear when that vote will take place.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>There were spirited&nbsp;speeches on Thursday at the Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee hearing, where his ordinance passed unanimously.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;No one dies from harm reduction,&rdquo; resident Patt Denning said. &ldquo;People die from conventional abstinence-based treatments because they&rsquo;re either left out or kicked out if they don&rsquo;t comply with abstinence.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Brendan Harris, who has been clean for six years, claimed addicts&nbsp;need a firm but compassionate push into treatment.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We can&rsquo;t just keep enabling drugs over and over again,&rdquo; he said.<\/p>\n<p>San Francisco is in the midst of a decadelong fight on how to address drug overdoses.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/investigations\/3389799\/san-francisco-kimberly-ellis-fired-unlawful-activities\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"TOP SAN FRANCISCO OFFICIAL OUSTED FOR 'UNLAWFUL ACTIVITIES' \">TOP SAN FRANCISCO OFFICIAL OUSTED FOR &lsquo;UNLAWFUL ACTIVITIES&rsquo; <\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/3379684\/san-francisco-mayor-daniel-lurie-progress-crime-tourism\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Mayor Daniel Lurie\">Mayor Daniel Lurie<\/a>, who took office earlier this year, has pledged to fix the city&rsquo;s drug crisis, specifically focusing on fentanyl.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Last year, more than 600 people died from overdoses in the northern California city.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1629061\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1629061\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>San Francisco shifts to a &#8216;recovery first&#8217; drug strategy, emphasizing abstinence and long-term recovery, angering harm reduction advocates<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2646,"featured_media":2427762,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/drugsbc.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[54119,32068,54120,32422],"class_list":["post-2427761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-drug-strategy","tag-public-health","tag-recovery-first-plan","tag-san-francisco"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/drugsbc.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2427761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2646"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2427761"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2427761\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2427765,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2427761\/revisions\/2427765"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2427762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2427761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2427761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2427761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}