San Francisco has shut down the center it set up to allow drug addicts to shoot up whenever they like.
Now, the city is completely out of answers on how to help drug addicts — other than rehabilitation programs.
The Tenderloin Center was supposed to offer drug addicts a “safer place” to fall further into drug addiction. CBS News reported that this facility would “help” addicts by doing nothing to break their addictions, but at least they would make sure no one died from an overdose. Oh, and it also offered referrals. That’s exactly what people are looking for in a facility where they can shoot up whenever they like with a babysitter watching over them.
In a twist that absolutely no one could have expected, drug addicts flocked to the community and began regularly defecating and urinating in the streets. Some residents felt so unsafe, as some addicts were aggressive, that they began carrying Tasers and baseball bats to protect themselves. Now, the facility has shut down.
San Francisco tried to justify closing the center less than a year after it opened by claiming that it was always going to be temporary. “The site was really always conceived of as temporary, knowing that we had an end point in mind,” according to Behavioral Health Director Dr. Hillary Kunins. Well, that’s reassuring. After all, the city spent $3.5 million on a facility that was only open for 11 months. How comforting it must be to San Francisco residents to know that this was always part of the plan.
Perhaps “shoot up here anytime you want” was not the best strategy to help people who are addicted to drugs and keep other residents safe.
