The city of San Francisco is handing out bottles of beer and shots of vodka to homeless alcoholics, and the idea is generating controversy.
Alcoholic beverages are served by nurses as part of the city’s “alcohol management program,” which has been running for four years, as a way to care for vulnerable homeless people.
The program, billed as the shot in the arm the city needs, is designed to reduce the amount of alcohol homeless people drink. He still allows them some, but in a more controlled way, hoping to curb their addiction in a controlled way.
Nurses assess patients and typically serve them the equivalent of 1 or 2 drinks three to four times a day: giving 1.7 ounces of vodka or liquor (about one drink), 5 ounces of wine (1 glass), or 12 ounces of beer. – about three-quarters of a pint.
Experts involved in the program say it has actually helped keep homeless alcoholics out of hospitals, prisons and even death.
San Francisco’s managed alcohol program offers shots of beer and vodka to homeless alcoholics as part of a harm reduction strategy and operates out of this former hotel.
The program, which will last four years, aims to curb excessive alcohol consumption among homeless people while preventing hospitalizations and deaths.
Despite criticism of allowing addiction, officials argue that it saves money by reducing the use of emergency services. In the photo, a homeless man is seen on the sidewalk.
Before the program was established, heavy alcohol drinkers were among the highest users of the city’s emergency services.
The program has doubled in size since it began in 2020. While at first there were 10 beds available for those suffering from alcoholism, there are now 20 beds available on the premises of a disused hotel in the Tenderloin district.
But it comes at a cost, as the city pours money into the program to the tune of $5 million a year as nurses serve shots of vodka and beer several times a day, depending on the “patients'” specific health care plans.
The focus is not so much on ensuring that participants are completely sober, but rather on improving their overall health little by little.
While the program may be lifting spirits among the homeless community, some residents appear to have only recently learned of the city’s efforts and believe the taxpayer-funded program is money wasted.
UCSF School of Nursing professor Shannon Smith-Bernardin helped establish the program in San Francisco.
Adam Nathan, CEO of an artificial intelligence company and chairman of the San Francisco Salvation Army advisory board, noted that drugs are not given to drug addicts and therefore questions why alcohol would be given to addicts. alcoholics.
‘This is all very strange to me and it just doesn’t seem right to me. Providing free medication to drug addicts doesn’t solve their problems. It just stretches them out. Where is the recovery in all of this?’ Nathan posted on X.
The program’s thinking is based on “harm reduction,” which seeks to reduce the negative health effects of alcohol and drug use rather than the total cessation of such vices.
Homelessness and overdose deaths have plagued the city in recent years, but critics argue that such programs only allow addictions to continue.
The Salvation Army, which advocates total abstinence from alcohol, has criticized the city for spending public funds on the initiative.
Even San Francisco Mayor London Breed herself appears to be at odds with her own public health department, believing that the harm reduction technique was not actually reducing harm, but rather making things much worse.
‘Are we going to manage people’s addictions with our taxpayers’ money in perpetuity forever? It seems like that’s basically what we’re saying,” said Tom Wolf, who is recovering from heroin addiction, to the San Francisco Chronicle. “I think we should spend that money on detox and recovery.”
But a UCSF School of Nursing professor, Shannon Smith-Bernardin, who helped establish the program in San Francisco, explained that the goal is to stabilize the amount of alcohol consumed by homeless people “so they don’t drink excessively.” or stop drinking and having seizures and then… start thinking about what’s next.”
As well as serving pints and drinks, the program also allows those taking part to receive medication and therapy in an added boost to reduce alcohol cravings.
Nathan posted the program on his social media earlier this week, posting details of what he discovered after entering the former hotel where the scheme operated. He was horrified by what he had seen.
‘I am not a doctor or an “expert” on drug policy issues. But I’m a taxpayer. When was this Managed Alcohol Program approved? Where were the public hearings? Why is it hidden in an old hotel? Who approved a two million dollar budget for it? Nathan asked in X.
Even San Francisco’s progressive mayor, London Breed, appears to be at odds with her own public health department, believing that the harm reduction technique was not actually reducing harm, but rather making things worse.
“Although there have been some limited studies that show some promise, I have to point out a couple of things that concerned me,” Nathan continued.
‘1. The Department of Public Health is spending $2 million in taxpayer dollars to give free alcohol to people, mostly homeless, struggling with alcoholism.
‘2. It’s set up so that people on the show just come in and have a beer, and then another. All day,’ she explained.
Public health officials have defended the program, noting that Nathan’s tweets only served to mislead the public and misrepresent the program.
Aside from wasting public money, San Francisco public health officials emphasize that the alcohol monitoring program has actually saved the city $1.7 million over a six-month period on what would otherwise have been visits to emergency rooms or hospital stays.
Officials say visits to the city’s sober living center decreased by 92 percent, while visits to emergency rooms decreased by more than 70 percent.
