One Woman Went Undercover In San Francisco To See How The City Offered Help To Addicts—Here’s Her Shocking Story

Erica Sandberg, a muckraker and personal finance expert, has been a long-time resident of San Francisco. Like Erica, many of us know the city for its rich history, diverse culture, and famous landmarks. Home to Silicon Valley and a population of nearly 900,000 people, there’s no doubt that San Francisco has always been at the forefront of progressivism in America. Yet, for anyone who’s toured the streets of the Golden City, the eye-catching sights are no longer the skyscrapers or historic buildings – it’s the homeless and drug-addicted individuals who are struggling on the streets. Despite the city’s billion-dollar annual budget, the opioid epidemic has continued to ravage the lives of those who have fallen victim to drug abuse, and natives like Erica Sandberg wanted answers. 

Erica Sandberg Goes Undercover 

In 2020, Sandberg decided to go undercover with a friend. With her long, black hair tucked into her hat, she put on a mask and a pair of cheap sunglasses to camouflage with everyone else in the busy streets of San Francisco.  Her mission was to visit some of the harm reduction centers in the area, organizations contracted by the city to provide services that supposedly lessen the dire consequences of drug use. What she found in these facilities was unsettling.

“The door opened, and on the back of the door was a list of drug use supplies,” Sandberg said in our phone interview. “It was like opening up a menu at a restaurant.”

The list included Narcan, bandages, alcohol pads, clean needles, and more. But besides supplies, Sandberg was hoping there would at least be an employee, a program, or even a pamphlet, that would give people information on how to get out of their addictions. She found nothing of the sort. Instead, she was only left with the sanitized materials that enabled individuals to continue with their drug use. 

“This has been a bastardization of the harm reduction methodology,” Sandberg said. “Everything goes out there – crack pipes, meth pipes, fentanyl foils, and fentanyl straws. It has gone beyond harm reduction and into enablement.”

Back in 2017, former San Francisco mayor Ed Lee unveiled a two-year $10 billion budget plan to tackle the city’s drug and homelessness problem. The budget outline stated that “teams will assist drug-addicted individuals by introducing them to other options, like mental health services.” It seems San Francisco’s promises fell short.

“San Francisco is not providing accessible, inexpensive recovery programs for people,” said Sandberg. “We only give part of the solution, which is handing out materials, so that people can live another minute, another moment, maybe another day. But ultimately, we’re looking at major deaths, we’re looking at huge amounts of people who are suffering on the streets and not getting the treatment that they need and deserve.” 

San Francisco’s Neglect Has Lead to Many Deaths 

Since 2020, there have been over 1,360 overdose fatalities in San Francisco. While San Francisco has done a great job in providing supplies to reduce harm, they’ve completely neglected the fatal outcome that continuous drug use ultimately leads to. There is no focus on promoting recovery, nor are there offers of rehabilitation programs and services. “We have made it much easier to continue with addiction than to stop it,” Sandberg said.

Individuals who want to get out of their addiction have to wait about one to three months on average to get help in San Francisco. But for those who are in the throes of addiction, time is of the essence. What’s even more concerning is that the so-called “experts” from San Francisco's Department of Health are the ones who have perpetuated the drug addictions. Sandberg’s frustrations with these “health specialists” were evident. “How would you like it if it was a family member of yours or a friend of yours?” she said she would ask them. “Would you want them to just continue? If that’s what you want, that’s what you’re getting.”

There’s Still Hope 

Luckily, for those who do want help, there are organizations that are focused on recovery treatments. Sandberg is on the board of the Salvation Army Harbor Light Center, where treatment and detox programs are free (even though the city doesn’t promote them). The Delancey Street Foundation is another organization that focuses on helping people to combat addictions. While these organizations are eager to assist those in need, so far, San Francisco’s Department of Health has not emphasized them.

Still, the individuals who have made The Golden City their home remain hopeful, focused on bringing awareness to the situation. For Sandberg, San Francisco could very well bring its reputation back if the proper measures are finally implemented. “Here we have an amazing city, that could be at the forefront of addiction care,” she said. “Why would we continue with this failed experiment? Why not turn the reputation around? We could be the epicenter of recovery care.” 

Closing Thoughts 

San Francisco has the money and resources to help people with addictions by providing healthcare services for recovery and rehabilitation. Instead, they’ve perpetuated it. We have to ask ourselves why? Why would a government choose to keep individuals from staying alive? If we continue to ignore these issues, we will never get to the root causes, and the future of our cities will never improve.

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