[mindslight]

I wish this post had continued with the analogy rather than pulling the ripcord with "the government has inadvertently created a thing of immense cruelty: this is a system that takes in people and slowly, but surely, kills them.".

Hard drug addiction can be seen as a terminal disease. The main cost to the city is truck rolls for EMT response. $100k/yr is much more than it costs to feed and house an individual in basic accommodations. The main cause of overdoses is purity/potency. Taken together, it seems like treating the situation as a public health problem with a palliative approach would save the city a lot of money as well as making life better for those trapped in it. Especially if SF could then turn around to the state and claim healthcare reimbursement for doing so.