S.F. on pace for deadliest year in overdoses

San Francisco experienced yet another staggering increase of fatal overdoses last month, a tragic metric that puts 2021 on track to surpass 2020 as the deadliest year in the city’s drug epidemic.

New data released Tuesday by the Medical Examiner’s Office showed that 66 people died of an overdose in February. There were a total of 135 deaths in the first two months of the year, and 700 for all of 2020.

San Francisco has struggled to get a handle on the increase of fatal overdoses, especially as fentanyl — an opioid that is far more powerful than heroin — has infiltrated the city’s drug supply over the past few years. About 71% of the people who died this year had fentanyl in their system.

In response to the epidemic, Supervisor Matt Haneyintroduced legislation Tuesday to force some city departments to annually report how they will prevent overdoses among their clientele in programs like supportive housing and shelters.

While many departments and city programs already have such policies, the legislation would seek to apply them consistently across San Francisco. The departments would have until Dec. 31 to create the reports, and would only need to pass a nonbinding resolution saying they will follow the plan.

“The overdose crisis in our city is horrific and it is getting much worse,” Haney said. “We need a response to this crisis that mirrors the data driven, coordinated approach we’ve seen to COVID19.”

Also on Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors voted on $1.6 million in emergency funding for the Stop Overdose Plan, which pays for outreach and onsite overdose prevention programs at single room occupancy hotels.

But it’s unclear what difference the extra funding and resources will make, as San Francisco has long been unable to provide enough treatment options for those who need it.

Mayor London Breed said Tuesday the city will keep trying to implement programs like safe injection sites, where people can use drugs under supervision, as well as increasing access to Narcan, a medicine that reverses opioid overdoses. But she said addiction “is not a new problem” and is one that the city will continue to confront.

“We’re continuing to push for new things to add more resources and to do the best we can to address it,” she added. “But it’s going to continue to be a challenge.”

Meanwhile, the San Francisco Police Department reports seizing much more fentanyl in the city. Department data shows that officers have seized 2.8 kilos of fentanyl in 2021, compared to 5.4 kilos in all of 2020.

Kristen Marshall, project manager for the DOPE Project, which oversees the city’s overdose response, said San Francisco needs “sustainable legislation and funding” to support those working on the ground everyday to save those around them. She said she helped craft Haney’s legislation and is pleased with the result.

“I want my politicians putting the money where their mouths are, putting resources into the community that is already doing the work,” she said. “And stop putting resources in the things they know don’t work.”