In an effort to try to track the presence of fentanyl and other illicit substances circulating in San Francisco, the city will use a tactic that has previously been used to track COVID-19: testing wastewater.
Public health officials will begin getting data in January on the levels of several drugs like fentanyl, xylazine, methamphetamine, amphetamine and cocaine.
"This wastewater surveillance program will measure and track the use of risky substances over time to help inform our public health interventions," said Dr. Jeffrey Hon with the city's department of public health.
The analysis will be done by a company called Biobot, which is the same company Marin County has been using in a similar program since last year.
Marin County Director of Public Health Dr. Matt Willis said the weekly report he gets on what's in the wastewater in his area has already helped his department sound the alarm for emergency room staff, the unhoused and others about the arrival of another deadly drug – xylazine, or tranq – back in August.
"Get the word out that xylazine, tranq, is in Marin County," he said. "People need to recognize the signs of it, recognize that Narcan may not be as effective against xylazine as it is against fentanyl."
Willis said if they didn't have the water reports, the only way they'd be able to track which drugs were surging into the county would be through patients arriving in the emergency room or being picked up by the coroner's office. He said that's simply too late.
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San Francisco has set a new record for overdoses. At least 752 people have died so far this year.
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