Here’s Why SF Gives Free Drugs to Homeless in Hotel Quarantine
Thanks to KTVU FOX 2 for letting us know about the controversial plan of providing free alcohol, drugs and tobacco for recovering homeless addicts “in limited quantities” who are being housed in San Francisco hotels during the COVID-19 epidemic.
The city has faced some backlash as the Public Health Department confirmed Wednesday that they have been providing alcohol, tobacco, methadone and medical marijuana to some homeless to help addicts manage their cravings while in isolation so that they don’t maintain isolation and don’t leave the hotels.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that it’s a small subset of the population staying in hotel rooms – just “a few dozen people” – who are receiving substances from the health department.
“Managed alcohol and tobacco use makes it possible to increase the number of guests who stay in isolation and quarantine and, notably, protects the health of people who might otherwise need hospital care for life-threatening alcohol withdrawal” – San Francisco Department of Health
The city says that the items are paid for by private donations and the these efforts are aimed at keeping recovering people from going out and possibly infecting others.
1. Tom are people supposed to seize from alcohol withdrawal? “Treatment” is not medical detox. If people are alcohol dependent they would need medically managed alcohol detox which they don’t want. Remember, hotel stays are 100% voluntary.
— Clyde Farquarth (@ClydeFarquarth) May 2, 2020
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
A tweet from T Wolf seemed to start the debate:
“I just found out that homeless placed in hotels in SF are being delivered Alcohol, Weed and Methadone because they identified as an addict/alcoholic for FREE. You’re supposed to be offering treatment. This is enabling and is wrong on many levels.”
There have been heated and mixed reactions. San Francisco Department of Public Health was tagged on the tweet and replied stating:
“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.”
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