TIMES THEY ARE A CHANGING –
May 28, 2025 – Last week, Mayor Daniel Lurie signed District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey’s “Recovery First” ordinance to guide the city’s response to addressing substance abuse with an emphasis on long-term remission and drug-free living as its primary goals.”If there are people who are choosing to use drugs and who are resistant to getting in recovery, we should at least make their drug use safer.
The largely symbolic piece of legislation builds on Lurie’s efforts to combat the city’s converging homelessness and addiction crises that he’s been addressing with initiatives like a new $37.5 million fund for mental health and housing services, an emergency fentanyl ordinance and addition of 279 new treatment beds.
Between the lines: The new policy also comes amid the mayor’s campaign to roll back some harm reduction programs, a practice that has helped save lives and prevent overdoses but faces criticism for enabling addiction.
“Our goal is not only to keep people alive, but to ensure people have access to drug treatment where they can overcome addiction and get their lives back,” said Steve Adami, executive director of the Way Out, a recovery-focused homelessness initiative of The Salvation Army.
The other side: Jennifer Friedenbach, executive director at the Coalition on Homelessness, said a lack of stable housing has been a big contributor to people falling back into addiction. While harm reduction has also been a crucial tool, the demand for resources has been too high to see visible results.
