San Francisco continues to grapple with a staggering number offatal drug overdoses. The latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data puts the city second on the list, trailing behind only Baltimore.
Even as theopioid crisis drags on, federal figures show a modest shift: overall overdose deaths in San Francisco have begun to decline.
In 2025, fatalities fell to their lowest level in five years.
Still, the city remains near the top nationally inper-capita overdose deaths.
City Supervisor Matt Dorsey acknowledged the grim ranking and uneven progress.“What we are seeing right now is other counties are improving faster than San Francisco is,” he toldABC7.“What I’m hoping is that we have to do everything we can to turn off the magnet and stop being a destination city for drug related lawlessness,” he added.
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Officials say a new strategy is taking shape, with public health leaders pointing to expanded treatment programs and intervention efforts aimed at getting people off the streets and into care.Steve Adami, executive director of a Salvation Army homeless initiative, says one abstinence-based shelter program is showing strong results.
“The program is full, we’ve had no overdose deaths, no overdoses, 80% success rate,” Adami told ABC. “I feel like we are opening the right types of programs that will help people overcome addiction, overcome homelessness and reclaim their lives.”
The facility houses 58 people, who must follow strict rules: passing a breathalyzer on entry, adhering to a 9 p.m. curfew, undergoing security checks, and attending required meetings with onsite managers, all part of maintaining a drug-free environment.
“For years, we were very enabling,” Adami said. “We were approaching the drug and homeless crisis as if it was only a housing crisis. We weren’t really addressing why people were on the streets. That is what has changed now.”
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
