Mayor Daniel Lurie chose not to embrace Sup. Jackie Fielder's "four pillars" plan for addressing San Francisco's opioid crisis, instead advocating for law enforcement and forced treatment methods. Fielder criticized the city's current strategies, noting their failure to reduce drug activity, simply displacing it to other areas. She cited Zurich's success story with a mixed approach of law enforcement and public health. Lurie, however, remains focused on punitive measures while claiming to support treatment when individuals are ready, amid concerns about capacity for actual treatment offerings in the city.
Lurie has insisted that his police-heavy approaches are making a difference: "My administration will continue to make the message clear, if you are dealing drugs then we will come after you. ... our operations have sent a clear message that drug dealers will find no safe haven."
Fielder pointed out that Zurich used to have the same, or worse problems as San Francisco, but after implementing a policy that relied on public-health approaches and prevention, as well as law enforcement, it's now one of the safest cities in Europe.
Lurie responded that he wants to get people into treatment and the help they need-"when they are ready and when they need it the most." That seems to suggest that he continues to support forcing people into treatment-which years of studies have shown doesn't work.
Besides, the city has nowhere near the capacity to handle all the people who are seeking treatment, much less the people who could be forced into it.
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