9.6 million lethal doses of fentanyl removed from San Francisco streets

SAN FRANCISCO - Since Gov. Gavin Newsom first deployed California Highway Patrol officers to San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood to assist local authorities in combating its fentanyl crisis nearly a year ago, 9.6 million lethal doses of the drug have been seized.

"These results are a testament to the effective collaboration among state, local, and federal law enforcement in San Francisco. We will continue to work together to get drugs off our streets, address crime, and make our communities safer," Newsom said in a news release on Tuesday.

A lethal dose of fentanyl is 2 mg, according to the United States Drug Enforcement Administration.

Fentanyl is a drug Tom Wolf knows all too well.

In 2018, he was living in the streets of San Francisco and hooked on both heroin and fentanyl, leading to his arrest.

"It’s a struggle because you’ll basically do anything to feed that addiction," said Wolf.

The joint operation between the state and San Francisco began May 1, 2023, as the city wrestled with disrupting the supply of the drug. State and local officials said that the collaborative effort has produced positive results.

"If we’re driving down the street, and we witness a hand-to-hand drug deal, yes absolutely we’re going to intervene," said Sgt. Andrew Barclay of the CHP Golden Gate Division.

CHP’s focus is on making traffic stops to help free up police resources.

Wolf, who now works as a recovery advocate, applauds CHP’s operation but stresses that drug treatment is key.

"In June, I’ll have six months clean and sober and that’s because I was held accountable," Wolf said. "I had to go to jail for a few months, and then I went to a six-month residential treatment program."

Wolf now works as a consultant for the Salvation Army’s transitional housing program, helping people battling addiction to turn their lives around just like he did.

"We just need to stop this revolving door that we have of organized drug dealers that keep being arrested and then getting released to pretrial diversion, and then they head right back on the street to sell drugs," Wolf said.

San Francisco has reported a 32% drop in property crime and a 14% reduction in violent crime citywide from January 1 to March 31, compared to the previous year, city officials announced last week.