Mirroring recent moves in San Francisco, the state of California is shifting away – at least partially – from the destructive “harm reduction” ideology in treating drug addicts.
After vetoing a similar bill last year, Governor Gavin Newsom has signed legislation that allows state funding for sober homeless housing. The state has long followed a “housing first” approach to homeless drug addicts, which, as anyone who has walked through San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood can tell you, hasn’t exactly been a success.
Liberal health “experts” in the state have long embraced “harm reduction” for the homeless population as well, a euphemism for feeding their drug addiction in the name of compassion, while lying that abstinence-based sobriety programs are ineffective. Democratic Assemblyman Matt Haney, who represents San Francisco and authored the bill signed by Newsom, accurately pointed out that under the current system, sober homeless people are forced to live with drug addicts who are not being encouraged to quit.
According to Haney, “This law will finally give Californians in recovery access to safe, stable, drug-free housing while making sure that if someone relapses, they are supported and stay connected to housing and services.” Haney worked closely with the governor’s office on drafting the bill, seeking to ensure that Newsom did not veto it again.
Whether it is based on genuine ideology, political reasons, or both, it is good to see Newsom and other California Democrats support measures that would strike most Americans – and, truthfully, most Californians – as common sense. Given that Newsom almost certainly intends to seek the presidency in 2028, sober housing is a better bullet point to have on his resume than funding drug dens.
As usual, though, while the move is encouraging, California still has a long way to go for this kind of policy to be the norm, rather than one option among many. If Democratic politicians in the state actually want long-term improvements to the homeless situation, requiring sobriety in housing should be the universal expectation. Without it, all we are doing is putting a band-aid on the problem, while promoting misery and death.
