{"id":25813,"date":"2023-04-05T12:30:18","date_gmt":"2023-04-05T19:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=25813"},"modified":"2023-04-05T12:30:20","modified_gmt":"2023-04-05T19:30:20","slug":"sfs-soma-drug-dealing-worsens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2023\/04\/05\/sfs-soma-drug-dealing-worsens\/","title":{"rendered":"SF\u2019S SOMA DRUG DEALING WORSENS<\/a>"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

by\u00a0Randy Shaw<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0April 3, 2023 (BeyondChron.org)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Will Mayor Breed\u2019s Letter to Feds Bring Action?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My two recent stories on open air drug markets in San Francisco\u2019s South of Market neighborhood\u2014-\u201cIn SF, Open Drug Markets on Federal Land<\/a>,\u201d and \u201cWhy Doesn\u2019t SF\u2019s Health Department Stop Drug Dealers<\/a>\u201d\u2014have not brought much action. In fact, Twitter has many photos showing the increased drug dealers around Seventh and Stevenson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why are San Francisco city government and the feds tolerating this?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I constantly get asked that question. I wish I could provide a rational answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TogetherSF Action<\/a> is holding a meeting<\/a> April 5 on the topic, \u201cDoes San Francisco Enable Drug Use?\u201d I encourage those interested in ending open drug markets to attend. You might get some answers to the above question that adds to my take on the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mayor Breed Asks Help from Feds<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

City Hall and the feds are not responding to the out of control drug dealing at Seventh and Stevenson with the sense of urgency<\/a>  the crisis  demands. That\u2019s why it was encouraging that the mayor formally requested help<\/a> from the new U.S. Attorney in a March 27 letter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mayor Breed pushed hard for the police supplemental. She has issued many press releases and spoken strongly at public events about closing drug markets.Now she has written a strong letter to federal prosecutors asking for help. The Mayor made it clear that she understands the terrible impacts open drug markets have on residents, small businesses, and on San Francisco\u2019s recovery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But at the end of the day it\u2019s about results. People want to see action, not just hear words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dealers and users operate throughout SOMA west of 6th Street. The drug dealer\/user\/illegal vendor scene displaced from UN Plaza now freely operates at the Pelosi Federal Building on weekends. Some of the dealers\/users displaced from around 8th Street have also moved to Stevenson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Businesses at risk and facing closure around Seventh and Market have not wanted to go public. They expected city and federal action to happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But a recent meeting at the Oddfellows Building on Seventh and Stevenson exposed a lot of upset businesses. There are youth ballet classes in that building\u2014parents aren\u2019t happy about their kids having to walk by a drug market to reach class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of San Francisco\u2019s leading theaters\u2014the Golden Gate, ACT-Strand and the Orpheum\u2014 bring SOMA\u2019s  drug markets to the attention of the larger public. This is not like Los Angeles where one can spend their entire life without seeing the problems on Skid Row.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There have been successes in other parts of the city. SFPD\u2019s disruption strategy has closed the two big Tenderloin drug markets. UN Plaza has made major progress since my February 27 story (\u201cSan Francisco Must Close UN Plaza<\/a>\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But evening drug dealing on Golden Gate Avenue and around the corner on Larkin remains a huge problem. Drug activity on Eddy toward Van Ness has gotten worse<\/a>. Drug users still fill too many Tenderloin sidewalks, particularly on Leavenworth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some dealers and  illegal vendors displaced from UN Plaza have relocated to McAllister and Leavenworth, across the street from UC Law SF\u2019s student dorms (formerly known as the Hastings Tower). That must be stopped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Federal and State Assistance Needed<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mayor Breed may have felt that publicly requesting federal or state help would send a message that she is unable to solve the crisis. I don\u2019t see it that way. The public wants Mayor Breed to demand the feds clear dealers and users from their property. The public also welcomes help from the state. I got a huge positive response for urging the mayor to ask Governor Newsom to send in the National Guard. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If it\u2019s fine for the Governor to intervene to help solve<\/a> San Francisco\u2019s housing crisis, why can\u2019t he help the city remove drug dealers? Placing National Guard or California Highway Patrol officers on every block with drug markets would make a huge difference\u2014and score political points for the governor and mayor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As it stands now, Mayor Breed risks losing re-election because voters do not feel she has kept the city safe. One can already foresee the political ads showing open air drug markets and disoriented drug users with the voice over asking: Does SF want another four years of this?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s no political downside to the mayor pushing the feds and the state to conduct a massive drug market crackdown. The upside is huge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I see a lot of stories promoting \u201cSan Francisco is Back!\u201d But I hear a lot of people saying they\u2019ve never seen San Francisco so troubled. A lot of residents and small businesses are losing hope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

San Francisco will not come \u201cback\u201d until all open air drug markets are closed. Let\u2019s all commit to making this happen in 2023.<\/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\u00a0April 3, 2023 (BeyondChron.org) Will Mayor Breed\u2019s Letter to Feds Bring Action? My two recent stories on open air drug markets in San Francisco\u2019s South of Market neighborhood\u2014-\u201cIn SF, Open Drug Markets on Federal Land,\u201d and \u201cWhy Doesn\u2019t SF\u2019s Health Department Stop Drug Dealers\u201d\u2014have not brought much action. In… 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":[372],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25813"}],"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=25813"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25813\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25814,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25813\/revisions\/25814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}