In San Francisco, the so-called \u201charm-reduction\u201d method of dealing with drug addiction is on the way out \u2014 and thank goodness. The lenient approach, which coddled drug addicts, only made the problem worse.<\/p>\n
The National Harm Reduction Coalition defines<\/a> \u201charm reduction\u201d as \u201creducing negative consequences associated with drug use,\u201d rather than fighting drug use itself. It is also \u201ca movement for social justice built on a belief in, and respect for, the rights of people who use drugs.\u201d<\/p>\n Harm reduction activists were once the darlings of City Hall. They began with noble intentions in the 1980s, when the HIV\/AIDS crisis led the activists to propose meeting drug addicts \u201cwhere they\u2019re at.\u201d <\/p>\n In San Francisco, the so-called \u201charm-reduction\u201d method of dealing with drug addiction is on the way out. Anadolu Agency via Getty Images<\/p>\n The problem was that letting addicts be addicts also meant leaving them on the streets to deteriorate and die.\u00a0<\/p>\n Today harm reduction is in a public-relations free fall. Politicians don\u2019t want to support it; Residents hate it.<\/p>\n Of course, the philosophy sounded appealing on paper. Don\u2019t be judgmental. The word \u201caddict\u201d is stigmatizing; use \u201csubstance use disorder\u201d instead. Wait, did you say someone is getting \u201cclean\u201d? That implies users are dirty. Everyone is fine. That guy face-down on the sidewalk just needs Narcan and a free home.<\/p>\n And don\u2019t you dare introduce such concepts as recovery, sobriety, and abstinence. That girl on a three-day meth binge will come to that conclusion on her own, if she chooses and when she\u2019s good and ready. Which may be never, but whatever. Pharmaceutical-grade drugs, aka \u201csafer supply,\u201d will help too. Users just need to know where the drugs come from, how to test them, how to keep their drug tools to themselves, and how to party with friends.<\/p>\n Today harm reduction is in a public-relations free fall. Anadolu Agency via Getty Images<\/p>\n When put into action, harm reduction principles failed miserably. They certainly didn\u2019t \u201creduce harm.\u201d It turns out practices like dispensing drug-supply paraphernalia by the vanful \u2014 from fentanyl foil to crack pipes \u2014 made lives and communities worse, not better.<\/p>\n San Franciscans witnessed the ruinous effect of such policies in real time. Harm reduction created massive and intractable open-air drug scenes; lured thousands of homeless drug tourists into the city; and intensified addiction. Already troubled areas like the Tenderloin and the Mission were brought to their knees with almost unimaginable crime and squalor.<\/p>\n Locally, harm reduction peaked in 2023. That was the year we had the most overdose deaths on record, at\u00a0810 fatalities<\/a>. Enough was too much. <\/p>\n Then-Mayor London Breed \u2014 an ardent harm-reduction proponent who wanted to set up formal drug-use sites (even having a de facto one in the Civic Center, which was a total disaster) \u2014 lost the election to Daniel Lurie in 2024<\/a>.<\/p>\n San Franciscans witnessed the ruinous effect of such policies in real time. Marjorie Hernandez \/ NY Post<\/p>\n Lurie\u2019s administration marked the beginning of the end of harm reduction culture. His\u00a0Breaking the Cycle plan<\/a>, unveiled in March 2025, eroded what was once a stronghold: City-funded nonprofit organizations giving drug supplies to drug addicts in the places where they congregate. Now such items can only be provided at sanctioned brick-and-mortar sites and must be paired with information about counseling and recovery.<\/p>\n The suffering carries on, though. Between 2020 and 2025 alone,\u00a04,090 people died of accidental drug overdoses<\/a>\u00a0in San Francisco. Nearly one in four of those deaths occurred inside the city\u2019s network of approximately 9,000 \u201cPermanent Supportive Housing\u201d units, nearly all of which are drug-tolerant buildings. The deadly fentanyl scourge continues to rage. Dealers keep flooding the city, as even when arrested they face little to no repercussions.<\/p>\n The hellish drama playing out in full view has its roots in the harm-reduction movement. Its adherents believe that criminalizing public drug activity is wrong.<\/p>\n Although evidence of such severe negative outcomes hasn\u2019t swayed the most ardent harm-reduction promoters, they know it\u2019s under attack.\u00a0Financial support has dried up, and proponents no longer have a guaranteed seat at the table.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for the California Morning Report newsletter\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCalifornia’s top news, sports and entertainment delivered to your inbox every day.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n In 2025 the Trump administration issued\u00a0\u201cEnding Crime and Disorder on America\u2019s Streets,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0an executive order that directed Health and Human Services agencies to stop funding harm reduction and safe-consumption efforts. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) followed,\u00a0barring federal grant funds<\/a>\u00a0from going toward syringes for illicit drug injection, pipes, and safer-smoking kits.<\/p>\n