(RepublicanJournal.org) – San Francisco enacted strict laws in 2019 to reduce the amount of plastic waste throughout the city. Reusable plastic straws were among numerous items to fall under the chopping block, part of an effort that was supposedly moving toward more environmentally friendly policies. Billionaire Michael Moritz recently pointed out the city’s apparent double standard in allowing plastic needle use despite heavy crackdowns on reusable plastic straws and other items.
Our beloved San Francisco sure does seem to be in the news a lot these days. Billionaire investor slams San Francisco's drug and homeless crisis
https://t.co/hCsOFFxTzV— Thomas Hawk (@thomashawk) February 9, 2023
Liberal San Francisco lauds itself over its progressive actions for the environment, yet officials seem spellbound when it comes to tackling the city’s ever-growing homeless population. Intravenous drug use, particularly with opioids, is a major contributor to the indigent population problem — and to plastic waste. Moritz wrote a scathing op-ed piece for Financial Times, highlighting the city’s hypocrisy while detailing the devastation that unchecked drug abuse wreaked on the community. He credits the introduction of fentanyl as the catalyst to an explosion of addiction and homelessness, and he doesn’t see the city’s open-air drug markets as helping.
San Francisco is one of a handful of cities testing out “safe injection sites,” where drug users can legally use narcotics and rely on workers to ensure they don’t overdose. In addition to “sterile consumption supplies,” users receive offers for drug addiction counseling. Proponents say the locations save lives and reduce disease transmission. Opponents suggest the evidence that these resources actually help appears limited. If anything, critics say the sites only perpetuate the problem. Moritz points out how the homeless population has only grown, and the issue has progressively eaten up San Francisco’s budget.
Meanwhile, as the city battles waste from plastic straws and other single-use items, hundreds of thousands of plastic syringes — thanks to the free supplies — litter the streets. And unlike their counterparts, these tiny pieces of plastic contribute to thousands of overdose deaths before making their way to the trash heaps.
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