{"id":25690,"date":"2023-03-29T12:10:26","date_gmt":"2023-03-29T19:10:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=25690"},"modified":"2023-03-29T12:10:28","modified_gmt":"2023-03-29T19:10:28","slug":"why-doesnt-sfs-health-department-stop-drug-dealers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2023\/03\/29\/why-doesnt-sfs-health-department-stop-drug-dealers\/","title":{"rendered":"WHY DOESN\u2019T SF\u2019S HEALTH DEPARTMENT STOP DRUG DEALERS?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by\u00a0Randy Shaw<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0March 27, 2023 (BeyondChron.org)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Drug Users Attract Dealers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The accompanying photo shows an open drug market on Seventh Street near a methadone clinic. Those seeking methadone from the BAART Clinic<\/a> at 1111 Market Street must pass by nearby dealers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does a methadone clinic attract dealers? Opinions are mixed. But nobody thinks making BAART clients  confront dealers is a good idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What has the Department of Health (DPH) done to protect its contractor from drug dealers? Nothing that anyone is aware.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, that\u2019s not how DPH operates. And that\u2019s a huge problem for San Francisco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When DPH\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Social media was full of complaints from nearby businesses and residences at the harm the Center\u2019s lack of accompanying protections was causing. But DPH didn\u2019t care. To this day DPH denies the harm it created.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adding insult to injury, DPH funded a  $500,000 \u201cstudy\u201d that found the Center had helped the neighborhood. As described by the SF Standard<\/em>, the report \u201craised the ire of community members<\/a>.\u201d That\u2019s because it conflicted with reality. DPH reached a conclusion that most people engaged in Mid-Market, SOMA and the Tenderloin found to be false<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DPH Avoids Responsibility<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

An obvious lesson  from the Linkage Center failure<\/a> was that when the city opens facilities that attract drug users, it must prevent dealers from arriving to meet the potential new demand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Close the city\u2019s open drug markets. Then we can talk about opening city-funded safe injection sites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What About the Police?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

DPH\u2019s defenders will ask why a health department should take on police functions. Why can\u2019t the police protect the BAART Clinic area from dealers? Why shift the blame to an agency whose mission is not to prevent dealers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clearly the SFPD must do more in that area. As must the feds<\/a>, as I wrote last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it\u2019s 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\u2019t open sites that promote these problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SFPD is severely understaffed. Shouldn\u2019t that figure into the plans of all other city agencies? Or should San Francisco continue to act as if it doesn\u2019t matter how many drug dealers it attracts because the SFPD will take care of it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Supervisor Matt Dorsey will soon introduce legislation for which eligible facilities could apply to have their block designated as a \u201cRight to Recovery\u201d block. This is a good first step. It might encourage DPH to do more to stop drug dealing at clinics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

San Francisco can and must do better. Let\u2019s at least see if we can turn the lose-lose situation at BAART into a win-win for public safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Randy Shaw<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Randy Shaw is the Editor of Beyond Chron and the Director of San Francisco\u2019s Tenderloin Housing Clinic, which publishes Beyond Chron. Shaw’s latest book is Generation Priced Out: Who Gets to Live in the New Urban America. He is the author of four prior books on activism, including The Activist’s Handbook: Winning Social Change in the 21st Century, and Beyond the Fields: Cesar Chavez, the UFW and the Struggle for Justice in the 21st Century. He is also the author of The Tenderloin: Sex, Crime and Resistance in the Heart of San Francisco<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

More Posts<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by\u00a0Randy Shaw\u00a0on\u00a0March 27, 2023 (BeyondChron.org) 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… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[323],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25690"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25690"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25690\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25691,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25690\/revisions\/25691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}