San Francisco mayor wants to tackle city's drug crisis by paying residents to stay sober

San Francisco is considering paying welfare recipients who test negative for illegal substances, under a proposal announced Monday.

The program “Cash, not drugs”, introduced from San Francisco Democratic Mayor London Breed and San Francisco Board of Supervisors member Matt Dorsey during a news conference would pay residents $100 a week for a negative drug test. Eligible residents must already be receiving assistance from the County Adult Assistance Program (CAAP), have a substance abuse disorder and volunteer for weekly drug testing.

“I want it to be as easy to get treatment as it is to go out there and buy drugs,” Breed said during the news conference.

The scholarship would be provided in the form of gift cards or electronic benefit transfers, seconds in the San Francisco Chronicle. It would be funded by the Homeless and Supportive Housing Fund and the CAAP Treatment Fund, KTVU FOX 2 reported.

Salvatore Zucco, a San Francisco resident, said the program “would be a good incentive in the short term,” but that $100 a week would not be enough of an incentive to quit smoking in the long term, according to KTVU FOX 2. Zucco spends up to at $100 per week. day with fentanyl.

“$100 wouldn't do it at all,” Jonathan Broomfield, another resident, told the local outlet, arguing that it would take $300 a week to lure him into the program.

The proposal will go before the San Francisco Board of Supervisors for approval, the Chronicle reported. It would be a three-year program administered by the city's Human Services Agency along with the Department of Public Health.

Today I announced legislation to create a voluntary sobriety and recovery incentive to provide eligible public assistance recipients with a bonus of up to $100 per week. It is an ambitious contingency management plan to counter illicit drugs. (1/3)https://t.co/av2jKqmb4L

— Matt Dorsey (@mattdorsey) July 29, 2024

Voters of San Francisco approved in March a proposal this would “require any person receiving CAAP benefits to be screened for a substance use disorder if the City reasonably suspects that the person is dependent on illegal drugs.” The city reached a record 806 accidental drug busts overdose dead in 2023.

The city's main library also has become a meeting point for drug deals.

“The goal is to get people into treatment and get their lives back together,” Jeff Cretan, Breed's director of communications, told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Latest messages from Jaryn Crouson (see everything)

We have zero tolerance for comments that contain violence, racism, profanity, profanity, doxing, or rude behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it, click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for engaging with us in a fruitful conversation.