EXCLUSIVE: SF supervisor calls for 'compulsory detox and treatment' for drug users
"We also need to be making criminal justice interventions in public drug use"
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- The quarter-mile stretch of 6th Street in San Francisco's South of Market neighborhood has long struggled with open air drug usage, but Supervisor Matt Dorsey says it's only getting worse.
It's why he's calling for mass-arrests of drug users to put them into "compulsory detox and treatment" and off the streets.
Dorsey first told ABC7 News about his request to the city agencies that deal with these issues to come up with an enforcement plan in order to solve drug-related "lawlessness" on the streets.
"Historically, most of the work that we're doing is focused on drug dealers, and I think that's something that needs to continue, but we also need to be making criminal justice interventions in public drug use," he said. "We do need to be making arrests of drug users with an eye toward making sure that any criminal justice intervention we make is a medical and life saving intervention."
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The San Francisco Police Department estimates that at least 200 people "loiter and use drugs" in the area on a nightly basis. Dorsey wants to see no fewer than 100 arrests per night going forward.
It's not the first time the city has tried to use the criminal justice system to get those with substance use disorders off the streets and into treatment. In 2023, Mayor London Breed directed SFPD to make more drug-related arrests.
Dr. Tyler TerMeer, CEO of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, is critical of this approach, saying it does not address the root causes of substance abuse.
"Decades of research have shown that criminalizing people for their health conditions or circumstances perpetuates harm rather than fostering recovery. Forced treatment under the threat of incarceration undermines trust in health services and disproportionately impacts marginalized communities," TerMeer said in a statement to ABC7 News. "What San Francisco truly needs is increased investment in overdose prevention services, voluntary treatment programs, and supportive housing. These approaches save lives, reduce public health crises, and strengthen our city."
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Dorsey believes the city's longtime harm reduction approach is no longer working. And as a former addict himself, it's personal.
"What may have worked in the heroin era is not working in the fentanyl era. We are facing drugs that are deadlier than ever before in human history. And we're seeing levels of addiction driven lawlessness that we have never seen even in a city that has taken a permissive approach to drug use in years past," he said.
When asked what this will cost, Dorsey did not provide specifics but said San Francisco cannot afford to ignore this problem.
Dorsey's letter of inquiry asks five different agencies to come up with a plan for large-scale arrests and involuntary holds within the next 30 days. It is directed to the following agencies: San Francisco Police Department, San Francisco Sheriff's Office, San Francisco Fire Department EMS Division, San Francisco Department of Public Health, and San Francisco District Attorney's Office.
