Wednesday 3 August 2022 06:30 PM California state senate passes bill allowing MORE open-air drug sites in ... trends now
California Governor Gavin Newsom is set to decide on a new bill that would allow for more open-air drug sites across his state, despite the disastrous pilot attempt in San Francisco which is now due to be closed.
The bill, SB 57, was passed yesterday by the state senate and is now with Newsom's office where, if signed, it will be passed into law.
It would allow addicts to go take their drugs with needles and other paraphernalia that is paid for by the taxpayer. He has not yet indicated which way he is leaning.
The bill passed yesterday with 21 Democratic votes over 10 Republican rejections and eight no votes recorded.
The California Senate Republican Caucus had pleaded with Newsom's office veto it.
'Allowing people to get higher than a kite on heroin and other dangerous drugs, then turning them loose afterwards onto the streets is just crazy,' said Senate Republican Caucus Chair Brian Jones in a statement afterwards.
Drug addicts injecting at the Tenderloin Linkage Center in San Francisco, a city-run site that is due to close this year after failing to make a dent in the drugs epidemic in the city
The Tenderloin Linkage Center in San Francisco was billed as an avant-garde approach to tackling the city's drug epidemic but only one out of 1,000 addicts actually sought treatment there
The bill would create state-funded and supervised drug taking sites in three major cities; L.A., Oakland and San Francisco, which all have severe drug problems
Newsom's office would not be drawn on whether or not he intends to side with his fellow Democrats.
'Legislation before the Governor will be evaluated on its merits,' a spokesman
