The proposal, Proposition F, will be on the March 5 ballot and has the support of Mayor London Breed, who wants stronger action against users of illegal substances. If passed, individuals receiving aid under the County Audit Assistance Program (CAAP) who decline drug screening without a valid reason would be ineligible to continue receiving a housing stipend and access to government-provided shelter. “They said San Francisco makes it too easy for people to access and to use drugs on the streets of the city and we need to do something a lot more aggressive,” Breed recently said. Opponents, however, say that coercive tactics are ineffective and caution that homelessness could increase if the measure passes. Chris Ballard, co-executive director of Coleman Advocates, which pushes for improvements for Black and Latino youth in San Francisco, told the Associated Press (AP) that the initiative resembles that of the federal government’s failed “War on Drugs,” which resulted in mass incarcerations and disproportionally hurt black families. “There are more ethical ways to address the issue aside from punitive measures, and that’s the proper way to take care of a community, to show true support,” he said. San Francisco has had ongoing issues with drug problems. Last year was the city’s deadliest for drug overdoses. Dr. Daniel Ciccarone, a professor at the University of California, San Francisco, who specializes in addiction medicine, said that 2023 was “an almost 25 percent increase over [2022] — that’s crazy and unfortunate.” In all, San Francisco chalked up more than 800 overdose deaths last year, while public drug use remains widespread in some areas. The city’s drug crisis has outpaced the national numbers. By the end of 2023, San Francisco’s overdose rate with more than double the national average, while the city was ranked fourth in the country for overdose deaths among U.S. counties with more than 500,000 people.In one month, San Francisco voters will decide on a measure that would require welfare beneficiaries to undergo drug screening and treatment for substance abuse as a condition of receiving payments.
