News Is San Francisco’s ‘war on fentanyl’ a drug war by another name? [US]

[thegreenhand]

Is San Francisco’s ‘war on fentanyl’ a drug war by another name?​

Justin Phillips
SF Chronicle
16 Oct 2022

Excerpt:

When San Francisco Mayor London Breed held a news conference this month to discuss the city’s drug crisis, two of her appointees couldn’t quite sync up on the messaging.

District Attorney Brooke Jenkins called it “a war on fentanyl.”

“What’s happening in San Francisco is not the war on drugs,” said Supervisor Matt Dorsey. “What is happening in San Francisco right now is a war on drug addicts.”

While these officials tinker with their branding, the other words they used shed light on what comes next. Collectively, Breed, Jenkins, Dorsey and Police Chief Bill Scott said the words “accountability,” “consequences” and “arrests” more than 40 times at their Oct. 5 news conference.

“Treatment” was mentioned fewer than 10 times. “Compassion” fewer than five times.

“You don’t get a pass just because you have a substance disorder,” Scott said at one point.

 

[thegreenhand]

is war on {insert drug} a drug war by another name ?

truly cutting edge journalism here, asking the tough questions