Backlash brewing over San Francisco mayor’s new drug testing requirement for welfare recipients

Experts on San Francisco, drugs and crime responded to San Francisco Mayor London Breed's Tuesday proposal to require residents who wish to receive welfare services to comply with mandatory drug testing and treatment programs.

Breed's announcement comes amid growing pressure to hold back the city’s homeless and fentanyl crises and as challengers to Breed as mayor continue to throw their name in for office in 2024. 

"She's in trouble," former San Francisco councilman and business owner Tony Hall told FOX News Digital. "She's found her administration is under increasing fire from the voters in San Francisco. She has to do something about the drug situation in San Francisco. So this is her latest salvo, trying to sound like a conservative in that she's really doing something. She does this periodically whenever she's in trouble. There's no follow through."

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Hall said that Breed's proposal was the "right approach" for handling drug use among welfare recipients in San Francisco; what he was skeptical about was the willingness to actually enforce the proposal. 

"They should be drug tested and there should be a mechanism in place to not only help them, but ensure that they're tested," Hall said of welfare recipients. "So she has done nothing. There is no mechanism in place to set up the testing. So she knew this announcement and this is typical. She makes these announcements and nothing happens and that's why the city is the way it is."

Drug users in the city have voiced opposition to the proposal, with one telling the San Francisco Chronicle that it's "our choice to use." Homeless people voiced their concerns as well to local outlet ABC7, and Supervisor Hillary Ronen called the proposal "disturbing" and harmful to users attempting recovery.

"So, in other words, we’re going to hit you over the head with more punishment," Ronen said, according to the San Francisco Standard. "Do we really think the best way to get people better is by kicking them more when they’re down?"

Safety and security expert Bill Stanton said that government benefit recipients should expect to abide by government rules. 

"It's not like the government is forcing you. This is giving individuals an option," Stanton said in response to Mayor London Breed's drug testing plan. "If you want to collect from the government, this is where you need to be compliant."

But Stanton also argued that drug use and addiction may create a downward spiral of crime. 

"But them having an addiction to drugs while on the government dime?" Stanton said. "In my opinion, from a safety and security standpoint, it is wrong. Drugs lead to addiction. Addiction can lead to crime, if users don't have the money to pay for it. And then crime leads to victims. And it becomes a vicious cycle."

Stanton called on Breed to "set up a program [so] that those who fail drug testing get help, and then once they get off of the drug, they can get back on government assistance."

"That's how you earn it," Stanton wrote. "By getting well."

"I think Mayor Breed’s plan to require drug testing and treatment to receive homeless services is a step in the right direction," forensic psychiatrist and expert witness Dr. Carole Lieberman told FOX News Digital in a statement. "San Francisco has been allowed — by Democratic mayors — to become a snake pit. There needs to be some requirements for the homeless to get services or they will continue their self-destructive path towards death, while bleeding the city dry." 

Breed initially announced her proposal with Supervisor Matt Dorsey, a recovering addict and former spokesperson for the police department. Breed said the new initiative would require individuals with substance use disorders who want to access county-funded cash assistance to be enrolled in treatment and services. 

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"San Francisco is a city of compassion, but also a city that demands accountability," Breed said in a statement. "We fund a wide range of services, and we want to help people get the care they need but under current state law, local government lack tools to compel people into treatment. This initiative aims to create more accountability and help get people to accept the treatment and services they need."   

"I strongly support Mayor Breed’s initiative, which will better incentivize treatment and recovery for a population that’s at wildly disproportionate risk for drug addiction and overdose fatalities," Dorsey added. "We’re facing an unprecedented loss of life in San Francisco, and we know coercive interventions can work."

Breed's office defended the mayor in a statement to FOX News Digital.

"Mayor Breed has been asking for bolder solutions to address the challenges and suffering on our streets," Breed's office wrote. "Over the last two years, we've tried a number of different approaches, some of which have worked and some of which have not met our goals. But the point is that we are trying. Fentanyl is something that we, like cities across this country, are grappling with."

The statement continued: "What the Mayor is proposing in this latest initiative is an attempt to get more people to accept treatment and get access to care. Our goal is for people to be trying treatment. Currently, for example, there are over 4,000 people in San Francisco who are on medication assisted treatment plans, like buprenorphine or methadone. This approach wouldn't be about prescribing one single path, but more so about being clear that if you want to seek help and you are trying, we want to help you.  But if people are not interested in seeking treatment, we can't just let continue to let people deteriorate on our streets." 

Breed's office said that the mayor was "focused on getting fentanyl and other drugs plaguing our communities off the streets" and holding people accountable for the crisis.

"The work to tackle the overdose crisis includes expanding treatment and services. The City is investing in residential care and treatment spaces expansion, a growth in abstinence-based program offerings, as well as additional overdose prevention supports in high-risk settings for those who are experiencing homelessness on our streets and in single room occupancy hotel settings."

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Fox News' Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.