“Drug Addiction/ Homelessness / Deaths From Overdoses  

When compassion is untethered from reality, it is not a kindness, it is not a societal good.  

Currently in San Francisco, two people A DAY, mostly individuals living on our city streets, die from fentynal drug overdoses. This is an...abomination, and...it must stop. 

All the compassion, all the money, all the resources, all the policies the city has applied to this problem so far have, for the most part, not worked. We need to stop normalizing open-air drug markets and public drug use on our streets, and start emphasizing a new normal: drug treatment programs that allow those addicted to drugs and/or alcohol envision a more promising future for themselves. 

In fact, as soon as treatment programs with long-term, wrap around shelter, counseling, and employment programs are more widely available, enrollment in them should be required for those who abuse drugs and/or alcohol BEFORE any other public services are provided. 

Drug Treatment First IS the way forward. It's tough, requiring commitment, accountability, and action on the part of participants, but humane and compassionate, too.”

-Cynthia Cravens, Your advocate for reducing homelessness, open air drug markets, and their associated drug-related deaths through compassionate AND reality-based public policies and programs.