Top headlines of the week

1. What led up to tragic West Portal crash? Here’s what S.F. police know — and what’s being investigated
2. Commentary: The Street Fight Over SUVs in Paris
3. Progressive California and Oregon revive the war on drugs amid fentanyl crisis
4. San Francisco Gets New Glimpse Into Illicit Drug Use With Wastewater Testing

5. S.F. hit with another lawsuit over drug crisis, alleging Tenderloin is a ‘containment zone’

    

Recently, a Mission family of four — a couple, a toddler, and an infant — sold their car. They were neighborhood-focused, perhaps looking to reap the mental and physical health benefits of walking and public transport. I say perhaps because we’ll likely never know: They were all killed last Saturday when an SUV barreling down the wrong lane veered into the bus stop where the young family was waiting. 

Despite signing onto Vision Zero a decade ago, traffic deaths in San Francisco remain high. Every year, dozens of people lose their lives and hundreds more are severely injured thanks to unsafe streets built to prioritize the comfort of drivers rather than the safety of pedestrians. To make matters worse, over the last several years local police have apparently all but stopped issuing traffic citations altogether.

All this isn’t inevitable. Paris, for example, is years into a remarkable transformation that has allowed thousands to ditch their vehicles for public transport and cycling. Instead of subsidizing car dependency through cheap gas or tax rebates, Democrats should muster technical expertise against personal vehicles — gas and electric — which are growing larger, heavier, and more deadly every year. The alternative is a continuation of a vehicular arms race that spews pollution (from exhausts and tires), traps people in poverty, and increasingly squishes children.

This is one of those frustrating and seemingly all-too-American: Tried and tested solutions are available but ignored. Another is the ongoing opioid epidemic. With the recent success of Prop F, which imposes drug tests on recipients of public cash assistance, San Francisco appears to be participating in a reactionary return to the failed war on drugs.

As experts have explained, the US already tried criminalization. Doing so again is the definition of madness. And as we’ve repeatedly noted, the connection between increasing drug deaths and crime is illusory; 2023 saw a record 800-plus drug overdose deaths and a 7% drop in crime.

Nevertheless, the city was recently sued — again — by a group of Tenderloin businesses and anonymous residents, who accuse it of failing to properly address drug dealing and public camping in the embattled area.

Punitive approaches can’t solve a public health crisis. Better, then, is the city’s ongoing pilot program to test the wastewater for cocaine, methamphetamine, and fentanyl. Not dissimilar to testing programs to track COVID, officials hope to use the data to track the drug supply and risk of overdoses. The pilot is set to end in August, but officials hope it will be continued and even expanded.

Weekly nonprofit news

Planned Parenthood Mar Monte

Upcoming event

Join us for our upcoming Mar Monte Monthly: Abortion Care Heroes! Abortion providers continue to provide care in the face of increased hostility & politically motivated attacks. Without their courageous efforts, life-saving help wouldn't be possible. Follow the link to find out more.

Axis Community Health

Forum reflections

Read Axis CEO’s reflections on this year’s National Association of Community Health Center’s (NACHC) Policy and Issues forum in Washington, DC.

Attention, new 26-year-olds

If you recently experienced a qualifying life event like loss of health insurance, marriage, or recently turning 26 years old, you can enroll in a health plan through  outside the open-enrollment period. Need assistance? Call Axis 925-462-1755 for a free enrollment appointment.

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