San Fran is asking the Feds to come in and stop the drug dealing in town. Are they nuts? All they have to do is allow the cops to arrest all the drug dealers and the cartels in town. No need for the FBI/Gestapo—as long as the local police are doing their jobs. Then, throw the book at these weasels—including murder charges, attempted murder, abuse of children, etc. Bury them till no other dealers want to be seen in San Fran, even as a tourist.
Asking the Feds to come in is a lame excuse for local government refusing to do its job.
“The crisis around the BAART clinic raises a critical issue that many backers of safe injection sites and so-called wellness hubs prefer to ignore. When the city operates drug facilities, it must ensure that this use does not impinge on neighborhood safety.
Unfortunately, that’s not how DPH operates. And that’s a huge problem for San Francisco.
When DPH’s UN Plaza Linkage Center sharply increased drug dealing and illegal vending in the area, DPH ignored complaints. Instead, it left an understaffed SFPD to clean up the problems that the safe injection site created.”
The first step is for government to close down ITS drug dealers on pub lic property. Instead of promoting drug use, they need to stop it. There are NO safe injections, these are assisted suicide with government help.
WHY DOESN’T SF’S HEALTH DEPARTMENT STOP DRUG DEALERS?
by Randy Shaw, Beyond Chron, 3/27/23
Drug Users Attract Dealers
The accompanying photo shows an open drug market on Seventh Street near a methadone clinic. Those seeking methadone from the BAART Clinic at 1111 Market Street must pass by nearby dealers.
Does a methadone clinic attract dealers? Opinions are mixed. But nobody thinks making BAART clients confront dealers is a good idea.
Clients have been assaulted. Some avoid the facility due to the dealers. Clinic Director Kris Prasad did not respond to my email request to talk but I am told by those who have heard from him that he is very upset about the situation.
What has the Department of Health (DPH) done to protect its contractor from drug dealers? Nothing that anyone is aware.
The crisis around the BAART clinic raises a critical issue that many backers of safe injection sites and so-called wellness hubs prefer to ignore. When the city operates drug facilities, it must ensure that this use does not impinge on neighborhood safety.
Unfortunately, that’s not how DPH operates. And that’s a huge problem for San Francisco.
When DPH’s UN Plaza Linkage Center sharply increased drug dealing and illegal vending in the area, DPH ignored complaints. Instead, it left an understaffed SFPD to clean up the problems that the safe injection site created.
Social media was full of complaints from nearby businesses and residences at the harm the Center’s lack of accompanying protections was causing. But DPH didn’t care. To this day DPH denies the harm it created.
Adding insult to injury, DPH funded a $500,000 “study” that found the Center had helped the neighborhood. As described by the SF Standard, the report “raised the ire of community members.” That’s because it conflicted with reality. DPH reached a conclusion that most people engaged in Mid-Market, SOMA and the Tenderloin found to be false
DPH Avoids Responsibility
An obvious lesson from the Linkage Center failure was that when the city opens facilities that attract drug users, it must prevent dealers from arriving to meet the potential new demand.
Methadone clinics are designed to attract drug users. Users attract dealers. Yet DPH places the entire responsibility for neighborhood safety on its contractor. An agency with a multi-billion dollar budget takes no responsibility for providing the necessary security drug facilities require.
Close the city’s open drug markets. Then we can talk about opening city-funded safe injection sites.
What About the Police?
DPH’s defenders will ask why a health department should take on police functions. Why can’t the police protect the BAART Clinic area from dealers? Why shift the blame to an agency whose mission is not to prevent dealers?
Clearly the SFPD must do more in that area. As must the feds, as I wrote last week.
But it’s DPH that funds programs that attract drug users and dealers. If DPH lacks the resources to protect surrounding neighborhoods from the negative impacts of their programs, they shouldn’t open sites that promote these problems.
The SFPD is severely understaffed. Shouldn’t that figure into the plans of all other city agencies? Or should San Francisco continue to act as if it doesn’t matter how many drug dealers it attracts because the SFPD will take care of it?
Supervisor Matt Dorsey will soon introduce legislation for which eligible facilities could apply to have their block designated as a “Right to Recovery” block. This is a good first step. It might encourage DPH to do more to stop drug dealing at clinics.
San Francisco can and must do better. Let’s at least see if we can turn the lose-lose situation at BAART into a win-win for public safety.
