SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE – San Francisco continued to see high drug overdose deaths last month, with 66 fatalities in May, according to preliminary findings released Friday by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
Of those 66 accidental overdoses, 48 people had the super powerful opioid fentanyl in their system.
The May number is a small increase from April, which saw 59 people die from accidental overdoses, but a slight decrease from March which saw 69 accidental overdoses.
San Francisco is on track to see slightly fewer overdoses this year than in 2023, but still more than any other recent year, including 2020 when deaths began to spike.
Dr. Hillary Kunins, director of behavioral health services for the Department of Public Health, said at a press briefing Friday that it’s important “that the public knows that highly effective and life-saving medications are available in San Francisco to treat people with addiction to fentanyl and other opioids.”
“It was June 1971 when President Richard Nixon declared drug abuse to be “public enemy No. 1” that required a “new all-out offensive” and additional government funding. Since then, the country has spent more than a trillion dollars fighting drug use, according to some estimates. That includes more than $39 billion the federal government spent last year alone, according to the Government Accountability Office. The numbers come as the city’s drug crisis continues to be an issue in the upcoming mayoral election.” – NBC NEWS, July 2, 2023
Elected officials — feeling pressure to address the issue — continue to propose new ways to get more people into treatment. This past week, two supervisors proposed legislation to create more sober-living housing options for the formerly homeless, saying that the city needs to do a better job of helping those who want to get into recovery.
The preliminary report also comes about four months after the city rolled out a pilot program that connects unhoused people with immediate medication prescriptions at night through a telehealth meeting.
Whenever possible, those who go through the telehealth visit and receive a prescription are given shelter that night.
Departmental staff or community partners assist with transportation to the pharmacy or deliver the medication to those placed overnight. The telehealth patients are also given support through a caseworker the next morning to ensure that the medication is taken …
