San Francisco recorded more overdose deaths in August 2023 than in any other month since records started being kept in 2020, a sign of the city’s continuing struggles with drug abuse and the opioid pandemic on its streets.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported:
The number of overdose deaths in San Francisco jumped up yet again in August — to 84 from 74 in July — tying January as the single deadliest month for overdoses since the city started tracking these deaths in the beginning of 2020.
At the current pace, San Francisco is on track to see 845 overdose fatalities this year, topping 2020’s 725 deaths.
The numbers underscore how San Francisco officials continue to struggle to address the devastation of fentanyl on the city’s streets — a crisis that Health Director Dr. Grant Colfax called “distressing.” The last figures indicate people are dying from fentanyl overdoses at a rate of nearly three people a day.
The record number of overdose deaths comes despite some effort by city and state officials to control the fentanyl scourge.
Last year, Mayor London Breed declared the drug problem a “state of emergency” in the Tenderloin district, and in April, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) sent the California Highway Patrol and the California National Guard to help.
However, the problem has persisted, amid a constant influx of drugs across the southern U.S.-Mexico border.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.