{"id":261685,"date":"2026-04-10T21:32:06","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T21:32:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/261685\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T21:32:06","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T21:32:06","slug":"sf-supervisor-says-drug-free-supportive-housing-would-allow-relapses-if-they-dont-disrupt-others-sobriety","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/261685\/","title":{"rendered":"SF Supervisor Says Drug-Free Supportive Housing Would Allow Relapses If They Don\u2019t Disrupt Others\u2019 Sobriety"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dorsey, who struggles with his own substance use disorder, introduced legislation calling for future city-funded supportive housing to be drug-free, which he says would allow for relapses if they don\u2019t put fellow residents\u2019 sobriety at risk, but some advocates remain skeptical.<\/p>\n

A proposal introduced by District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey, with co-sponsors Rafael Mandelman, Stephen Sherrill, Danny Sauter, and Bilal Mahmood, would require new permanent supportive housing sites to evict tenants for drug use \u2014 if it poses a danger to others’ sobriety \u2014 or risk losing their funding, which some advocates believe could help residents maintain sobriety, as the Chronicle reports<\/a>. The Board of Supervisors is expected to vote on the legislation later this spring.<\/p>\n

Dorsey\u2019s aim is to reduce the amount of accidental overdose deaths that occur in permanent supportive housing in San Francisco by ensuring a more reliably drug-free environment. One-fourth of the city\u2019s overdose deaths last year occurred in supportive housing complexes, according to the Examiner<\/a>. <\/p>\n

San Francisco currently follows state guidance across its more than 15,000 supportive housing units, which does not allow eviction based solely on drug or alcohol use in the absence of other lease violations, and does not require any sites to be drug-free. State guidelines also call for a harm-reduction approach, where tenants are met with nonjudgmental support around substance use, offered education on safer practices, and connected to treatment options if they choose.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe entirety of our permanent supportive housing portfolio is drug tolerant, and that means that no one can be evicted for the use of illicit drugs on site,\u201d Dorsey told the Chronicle. \u201cThis poses some real problems for people who are in recovery or seeking to get into recovery, because we\u2019re putting them in environments where they\u2019re not succeeding.\u201d<\/p>\n

Per the Chronicle, Dorsey\u2019s measure argues city-funded buildings have flexibility within that framework, and the new law would require new projects to adopt stricter policies or risk losing city funding. The legislation also directs the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing to survey residents on whether they prefer housing that permits or prohibits drug use, with results shaping future developments. <\/p>\n

As someone who\u2019s dealt with substance abuse disorder himself, Dorsey told Mission Local<\/a> he believes that if he relapsed in treatment \u2014 and it posed a risk to fellow residents\u2019 sobriety \u2014 he should also be evicted.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I was doing something that was endangering the sobriety of somebody who was fighting for their sobriety \u2026 if I was in a sober facility and if I got evicted, I would be inclined to say I should go,\u201d said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy the way,\u201d he added, \u201cI have been in situations like that even in treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Mission Local points out, Dorsey\u2019s circumstances weren’t comparable to residents in need of government-funded, permanent supportive housing, as he consistently had insurance and private housing.<\/p>\n

Dorsey clarified the proposal would not make a single relapse grounds for eviction, emphasizing that removal would only apply in cases where a resident\u2019s drug use is deemed \u201csubstantially disruptive\u201d to others, per the Chronicle. Even then, he said the goal would be to avoid pushing people back into homelessness, instead connecting them to treatment or placing them in housing that allows ongoing use.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf somebody is persistently using drugs in a way that is disruptive… then the city would find a drug-tolerant option for people who want to have a low-barrier option,\u201d he said, via the Examiner.<\/p>\n

The Examiner notes that the legislation does not draw a clear line between relapse and persistent use, leaving those determinations to the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing on a case-by-case basis, which is likely where the skepticism lies among opponents of the legislation.<\/p>\n

Some advocates warn that tying city funding to stricter eviction policies could put planned supportive housing projects at risk, and complicate efforts to backfill gaps left by declining federal support, including Continuum of Care funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.<\/p>\n

Dorsey said the proposal is intended to apply to future developments, though he acknowledged the city is still far from meeting demand for drug-free housing options, according to the Chronicle.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis will give us a road map forward,\u201d Dorsey said. \u201cIt will provide that, to the extent that city-funded permanent supportive housing comes online, that will have to be drug free until and unless we\u2019re starting to meet the demand.\u201d <\/p>\n

Advocates also raised concerns about the potential for increased evictions under the proposal. Jennifer Friedenbach, executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness, said the measure raises broader tenant rights issues, even as it allows for relapse and includes provisions permitting medically assisted treatment, per the Examiner.<\/p>\n

Friedenbach said she supports recovery-oriented housing options, but described the proposal as overly restrictive, reportedly calling it \u201cperformative\u201d and unlikely to yield significant improvements.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would like it to be about creating pilots instead of banning the flexibility that we need to maximize our badly needed housing resources,\u201d said Friedenbach, speaking to the Examiner.<\/p>\n

Randy Shaw, the executive director of the Tenderloin Housing Clinic, said he supports the legislation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose residents are getting treatment, but they\u2019re not tenants; they don\u2019t have any tenants\u2019 rights,\u201d he told the Examiner. \u201cWe really need options for people to have permanent housing where they\u2019re in a drug-free environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Mission Local, Dorsey has framed his own history with substance use as central to his approach, speaking openly about past relapses and a disciplinary process during his time as a civilian employee with the San Francisco Police Department that he described as a \u201clast chance.\u201d He reportedly asked then-Mayor London Breed to consider him for the District 6 supervisor seat after reaching 18 months of sobriety, telling her he wanted to bring the perspective of someone in recovery to the role.<\/p>\n

When speaking to Mission Local, he pointed to upcoming and potential initiatives tied to his broader drug policy agenda, including support for Mayor Daniel Lurie\u2019s RESET Center pilot, which is expected to launch soon, as an alternative to jail or hospitalization for people arrested while under the influence.<\/p>\n

Dorsey said he plans to make drug policy a central focus of his reelection platform, including a proposed \u201csober new deal\u201d program offering temporary conditional income to support people completing treatment. He has also floated creating a kennel and foster care program for pets, which he said can be a barrier for some people seeking recovery.<\/p>\n

Related: Mayor Lurie\u2019s Controversial New RESET Sobering Center Will See Its Contractor Paid Based on Performance<\/a><\/p>\n

Image: Matt Dorsey\/Facebook<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dorsey, who struggles with his own substance use disorder, introduced legislation calling for future city-funded supportive housing to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":261686,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":{"0":"post-261685","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco","8":"tag-san-francisco","9":"tag-san-francisco-headlines","10":"tag-san-francisco-news","11":"tag-sf","12":"tag-sf-headlines","13":"tag-sf-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261685"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261685\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/261686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}