After receiving hotel rooms at taxpayer expense, homeless addicts in San Francisco are now being provided with free drugs and alcohol. The San Francisco Department of Public Health confirmed they are giving homeless addicts addicting substances, claiming the drugs help addicts better isolate during the Wuhan coronavirus and work better for "recovery" than going cold turkey. The department denied taxpayers were footing the bill and said other cities have similar programs.
These harm reduction based practices, which are not unique to San Francisco, and are not paid for with taxpayer money, help guests successfully complete isolation and quarantine and have significant individual and public health benefits in the COVID-19 pandemic.
— SFDPH (@SF_DPH) May 5, 2020
In a news conference, Dr. Grant Colfax from San Francisco's Department of Public Health further defended the decision.
"With regard to supporting people who are at risk, or who need to be in quarantine or isolation because they're COVID positive, our focus needs to be on supporting them," Dr. Colfax said. "Meeting them where they are so that they can be cared for in the most appropriate way. In the way that's good for them and for our community."
As of Monday, San Francisco was housing 965 homeless people in hotel rooms, according to the Wall Street Journal. According to KTVU, the health department confirms giving tobacco products to 10 percent of quarantined guests and giving alcohol to 11 individuals to prevent withdrawal.
The Board of Supervisors recently passed an ordinance calling on Mayor London Breed's administration to lease 7,000 hotel rooms to house additional homeless individuals during the Wuhan coronavirus. The ordinance, when added to the 1,250 rooms needed for the city's first responders and medical staff, will cost the city an estimated $58.6 million a month.
