San Francisco Mayor London Breed spent part of her day stumping for Proposition F, which would require drug screening for anyone receiving cash assistance from the city.
The proposition heads to voters as the city recorded its highest rate of accidental drug overdose deaths last year -- and most were from fentanyl.
"San francisco, this compassionate city, makes it too easy for people to be out there on the streets using drugs,” said Breed.
Under Prop F, the city would require people with substance addiction to participate in drug screening and potentially treatment before getting cash assistance.
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But Prop F would not require people to go through formal drug testing -- just screening.
Supporters like Cedric Akbar, with a group called Positive Directions, believes the city of San Francisco, and many private groups, have relied only on harm reduction methods for too long.
"As a recovering addict, if I had the opportunity to be able to get free needles, foil paper for free from the city, and also have the city pay for my drugs, with my GA money, then why would I stop using drugs?" he said.
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On Wednesday, the San Francisco Department of Public Health released details on the death toll from drug overdoses in 2023.
A total of 806 people died in the city from accidental overdoses -- the highest rate ever. Four out of every five of those deaths involved fentanyl.
Dealing with the drug epidemic seems to be a priority for voters. According to a poll conducted in November by EMC Research, 66% of the 500 voters polled, voiced support for Prop F.
But opponents say the measure could have an unintended effect they say it could push people who are in publicly subsidized housing, into homelessness.
"Under this proposition, if they are found to be having a substance abuse disorder, and mandated to go to treatment and they don't comply, they will lose that assistance and they will lose their housing,” said opponent Sara Shortt.
Some members of the board of supervisors, and the city's Democratic Central Committee, have also come out against the proposition.
Proposition F is one of three measures Mayor London Breed is backing this election season.
Prop C aims to help developers convert office buildings into housing easier, and Prop E gives more surveillance and pursuit powers to the police department.
But with Prop F, Breed says the hope is to try and break the cycle of addiction by changing the way the city deals with the issue.
"What we are doing now is a part of the problem," she said.
