San Francisco declares state of emergency to curb overdoses

The mayor of San Francisco declared a state of emergency on Friday, December 17 in a neighborhood in the center of the city which has experienced an outbreak of overdose deaths since last year, mostly linked to fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that makes wreaking havoc in the United States. The Tenderloin neighborhood, next to Union Square and other San Francisco tourist hotspots, has become a hotspot for opioid use, with daily deaths as a result. On average,

City Councilor Matt Haney said.

adds.

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The number of overdoses in San Francisco has exploded since the mid-2010s and the arrival of synthetic opiates, much more powerful than heroin or morphine. A record was recorded last year with 711 deaths (for a population of 874,000) and the number of victims is not expected to be far from that figure again in 2021, according to projections by the

newspaper

. The state of emergency proclamation signed Friday by the mayor, London Breed, allows local authorities to quickly open accommodation and psychological care centers by disregarding the rules of town planning or usual public contracts. The measure is inspired by that implemented throughout San Francisco from February 2020 to stem theCovid-19 epidemic.

Between April 2020 and April 2021, the United States counted 100,306 fatal overdoses, an increase of 28.5% compared to the same period the previous year (78,056 deaths).

It is the first time that the symbolic bar of 100,000 deaths has been exceeded, which amounts to one death every 5 minutes.

This scourge is fueled in particular by the circulation of counterfeit medicines, in particular via the Internet or social networks.

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The Tenderloin district has long been renowned for its high density of homeless people, drug addicts and drug dealers.

For London Breed, the state of emergency will help

and

.

Alcoholism and drug addiction have clearly progressed since the start of the pandemic, which has caused the termination of many aid programs for dependent people and increased the general level of stress among the population.