California state senate passes bill allowing MORE open-air drug sites in California

California Governor Gavin Newsom is set to decide on a new bill that would allow for more open-air drug sites across his state, despite the disastrous pilot attempt in San Francisco which is now due to be closed. 

The bill, SB 57, was passed yesterday by the state senate and is now with Newsom’s office where, if signed, it will be passed into law.

It would allow addicts to go take their drugs with needles and other paraphernalia that is paid for by the taxpayer. He has not yet indicated which way he is leaning. 

The bill passed yesterday with 21 Democratic votes over 10 Republican rejections and eight no votes recorded. 

It does not indicate how many sites are planned for each city, or how many people would be employed. 

But it stipulates they all would have to provide clean needles, be trained in CPR and have access to overdose-reversing drugs. 

They would also have to ‘make public a good neighbor policy that facilitates communication from and to local businesses and residences.’

The Tenderloin Linkage Center in San Francisco was billed as an avant-garde approach to tackling the city’s drug epidemic but only one out of 1,000 addicts actually sought treatment there

The bill would create state-funded and supervised drug taking sites in three major cities; L.A., Oakland and San Francisco, which all have severe drug problems

The California Senate Republican Caucus had pleaded with Newsom’s office veto it.  

‘Allowing people to get higher than a kite on heroin and other dangerous drugs, then turning them loose afterwards onto the streets is just crazy,’ said Senate Republican Caucus Chair Brian Jones in a statement afterwards. 

Newsom’s office would not be drawn on whether or not he intends to side with his fellow Democrats. 

‘Legislation before the Governor will be evaluated on its merits,’ a spokesman told The San Francisco Chronicle. 

A similar effort in San Francisco was launched by city officials last year but has already been axed due to the disastrous result. 

The Tenderloin Linkage Center in San Francisco was billed as an avant-garde approach to tackling the city’s drug epidemic but only one out of 1,000 addicts actually sought treatment there. 

The center cost a whopping $19million in city taxpayers money. 

DailyMail.com observed lines of drug addicts outside the facility injecting into their legs in broad daylight. 

The city recently announced that it would not be renewing the $75,000-a-month lease for the site location. 

San Francisco’s new District Attorney, Brooke Jenkins, has vowed to crackdown on drugs in the city by targeting drug dealers rather than addicts or centers. 

The bill was proposed by State Senator Scott Wiener, who says they are a ‘proven’ way to reduce overdose deaths.

In their letter to Newsom’s office, the California Senate Republican Caucus pleaded: ‘It is not humane, or compassionate, to allow individuals to live, shoot up, or die on the streets without providing them the assistance and help they need to recover and live fulfilling lives. 

San Francisco’s new DA Brooke Jenkins says she will tackle the city’s drug problem by cracking down on drug dealers

‘Fueling the drug epidemic with drug dens and needle supplies is like pouring gasoline on a forest fire. It merely worsens the problem. For all these reasons, we respectfully request your veto.’ 

State Senator Scott Wilk said: ‘Instead of focusing on a strategy to help people get their lives back, get off drugs and into treatment, CA Dems focus on giving people free needles and a safe place to shoot up.’ 

The bill was proposed by State Senator Scott Wiener, who says they are a ‘proven’ way to reduce overdose deaths. 

But San Francisco’s site drew in only a tiny number of the thousands who need help. 

In 2018, Governor Jerry Brown vetoed a similar bill on the grounds that it not only fueled the crisis, but that it opened up workers at the centers to federal criminal charges, despite protecting them from state prosecution.