A "misguided" poster campaign by a Welsh billionaire to support stricter enforcement of the law against drug users and dealers on San Francisco's streets has drawn criticism.
Together SF, whose poster campaign demanded the elimination of outdoor drug markets and increased funding for recovery programs, is supported by Michael Moritz.
Some people have called the campaign "misguided" because the posters were vandalized.
We have gotten in touch with Together SF and Sir Michael for comments.
After graduating from Oxford in 1974, Sir Michael, who was born in Cardiff, emigrated to the United States. After making investments in tech start-ups like PayPal and Google, he amassed a fortune.
Online critics have charged that the Together San Francisco project "criminalized" the poor and "shamed" drug and Narcan (a brand name anti-opiate drug) use.
According to the alleged graffiti writers, "a crew of friends vandalized over 10 of the right-wing, pro-police 'Fentalyfe' street poster installations under the cover of night with the Frisco fog as our accomplice. ".
According to the anonymous blog posters, they painted messages like "Narcan saves lives," "cops kill people," and one that was critical of Mr. Moritz.
In a Financial Times article from February, Sir Michael stated that San Francisco "allows plastic needles but bans plastic straws.".
The Californian city, according to him, experienced more drug-related fatalities between 2020 and 2022 than Covid, and any effort to address the city's issues without addressing drug issues would be "fruitless.".
Additionally, Sir Michael claimed that the synthetic opioid fentanyl, which is 50 times stronger than heroin, had rendered many city blocks into "zombie zones.".
In addition to the shocking loss of potential, he claimed that San Francisco's annual budget of $13.95bn (£11.1bn) is heavily consumed by drug use and homeless tents.
In the fiscal year 2017 alone, the city spent $680 million (£543 million), up from about $200 million (£160 million) in 2016. ".
No one in the city disputes that there are issues and problems on the streets with fentanyl, homelessness, and drug addiction, according to San Francisco journalist Christopher Cook, who has lived in the city for 30 years.
There is obviously a great deal of suffering and tragedy on the streets, he said. What's causing these issues and how will we handle them are the main concerns.
According to him, Sir Michael and the campaign organization "fomented dot. a seriously false narrative that suggests a small number of progressive supervisors and local lawmakers are somehow to blame for this enormous, national-scale crisis.
The benefits homeless people receive, according to Mr. Cook, are "enough to barely keep them alive," and the tech billionaire has been "one of the major funders for this entire reactionary movement.".
The "solution" is not to "throw them in jail," where overdose rates are higher, he continued.
"What many of us would advocate is expanded treatment available on demand in the streets along with fully supportive housing where people have a place to live, not just a shelter overnight. ".
He claimed that many times, shelters were "very dangerous places," leaving residents "to fend for themselves" outside.
Homelessness was described as "a systemic problem in America" by the San Francisco resident.
In the 30 years Mr. Cook has lived there, he claimed that the city has undergone significant change.
"The most significant change has been the city's widespread, massive gentrification, which has literally displaced thousands of people. ".
As a result of "basic level apartments [going] for $2,000 to $3,000 a month (£1,600 to £2,400) [for] a one-bedroom studio], working people, he claimed, could not afford to live in the city.
The ad campaign seems incredibly simplistic and tone-deaf, Mr. Cook continued. " .
While the ad campaign urges funding for drug abuse treatment, it criticizes City Hall and the "very people" who are "the strongest advocates of expanding treatment," according to Mr. Cook.
"Together San Francisco and Michael Moritz and these other allied groups have consistently promoted more police presence, more policing of the issues on the streets and arresting users, drug addicts and compelling people into treatment. " .
He added that the opioid crisis and drug addiction were "not entirely the same thing.".
"[Sir Michael] is pointing the finger at the wrong people. " .
Critics, according to Mr. Cook, should be prepared to pay higher taxes to pay for drug treatments.
Together SF Action, a sister organization of Together San Francisco, is a non-profit organization that calls on elected officials to exercise better governance.
On its website, the organization claims that it "refuses to stand idly by as our city faces rising homelessness, out-of-control housing costs, a drug epidemic, and failing schools.".
According to its website, Together SF Action was founded "to empower people who are tired of hearing that those issues are too complicated to solve" and to bring them together.
We have gotten in touch with Together SF and Sir Michael for comments.
