San Francisco Sees Record Number of Fentanyl Overdose Deaths
In August 2023, the city of San Francisco documented a record number of drug overdose deaths, averaging 3 deaths a day from fentanyl alone, more than any other month since record-keeping began in 2020.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported that 84 people died in August due to drug overdoses, 66 of whom officials believe were caused by fentanyl. 74 individuals died from drug overdose the month prior, as the city continues on track to see more than 845 overdose fatalities this year, “topping 2020’s 725 deaths,” according to the report.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed called the fentanyl crisis a “state of emergency” last year, and despite Governor Gavin Newsom sending the California National Guard to aid in the response, overdose numbers have continued to climb. The mayor has since increased policing in the area, leading drug-related arrests to reach a 10-year high, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Local residents have complained that they feel consistently unsafe in the city that has been plagued by this opioid epidemic since at least 2020, and as violent crime remains high in the area.
The city employed “harm reduction” programs that provide addicts with needles, meth pipes, and other drug paraphernalia to support “safe and clean” drug use, which has been criticized by former addicts as a form of enabling.
“A lot of these people have mental illnesses and other things that they’re struggling with, and the city’s policies have made the problem worse in my opinion. It’s actually enabling some of the drug users as far as their stance on harm reduction,” a former drug user told TPUSA Contributor Savanah Hernandez.
This former user went into one of the city’s many “harm reduction” centers for supplies, which were provided to him free of cost. He walked out with tin foil, meth pipes, and straws — used to take fentanyl. “I asked where I could go to get some help to get clean — and they had no idea,” he told Hernandez.
Fentanyl has poured across the southern border at record levels since the COVID-19 pandemic, quickly becoming the most deadly drug in the country. New studies show that fentanyl residue is present on half of all public transport in Seattle and Portland, and it is very likely that other large metropolitan areas will find similar levels of the opioids in public spaces.
