California Gov. Gavin Newsom is sending reinforcements into San Francisco to assist the liberal bastion in its battle against an exploding and deadly fentanyl crisis.
The Democrat is marshaling forces from the California Highway Patrol, California National Guard, the San Francisco Police Department, and the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office to finally act against the scourge.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom tackles fentanyl crisis ordering State Police and National Guard to shut down SF's open drug markets https://t.co/XVC9bJVAk5
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) April 22, 2023
The city has been overrun by a burgeoning homeless population and open-air drug markets.
Newsom, who is a former mayor of the city, said that the joint effort will “crack down on crime linked to the fentanyl crisis.” He pledged to hold drug dealers responsible and claimed the effort “will not result in criminalizing people addicted to drugs.”
Rather, he predicted the joint project will result in “dismantling fentanyl trafficking and disrupting the supply of the deadly drug in the city by holding the operators of large-scale drug trafficking operations accountable.”
The city’s left-wing Democratic Mayor London Breed celebrated the news. She, along with the district attorney’s office and police chief, pledged to take down major suppliers.
Breed took office with a promise to put the brakes on rampant drug dealing in the Tenderloin neighborhood, but that has yet to materialize. Newsom made a surprise visit to this and other areas last week to highlight his planned intervention.
The Democratic governor hailed the moves to rein in the crisis through providing “more law enforcement personnel and resources.” The irony of this statement and the entire program must be addressed.
We are not far removed from city leaders screaming that the path to glory meant defunding the police. Law enforcement officers were to be replaced with social programs, and the city’s former progressive district attorney made sure to decriminalize as much bad behavior as possible.
All of this led to a striking situation where crime and drug dealing in broad daylight took over the city. Residents of this liberal enclave no longer felt safe and demanded action.
So what do these city leaders do?
They called in reinforcements. Not social workers and new age therapists, but armed good guys with guns to tackle the rampant drug issue. Because people are dying, and no amount of wishing and goodwill is going to tackle San Francisco’s glaring issues with drugs and violence.
