San Francisco to Establish Drug Crisis "RESET Center"
San Francisco is moving forward with plans to establish a "RESET Center" to address the city's drug crisis. Mayor Daniel Lurie is expected to sign the ordinance creating the center, which will provide resources and support for individuals struggling with addiction. This represents the city's latest major initiative to combat public drug use and its consequences.
- The center, located at 444 6th Street, is a 25-bed pilot program operating under a $14.5 million, 26-month contract with the company Connections Health Solutions. - The facility will be overseen by the San Francisco Sheriff's Office, with support from the Department of Public Health, and will serve as a drop-off location for police to bring people arrested for public intoxication as an alternative to jail or emergency rooms. - Despite the Board of Supervisors approving the contract 9-2, the city attorney's office warned that the program, which holds individuals until they are sober, could create "very high legal risk" for San Francisco. - Supervisors who voted against the measure, including Jackie Fielder and Connie Chan, expressed doubts about the center's effectiveness and its coercive approach. - The initiative is part of a broader policy shift away from a pure "harm reduction" model that has been criticized for enabling public drug use. - This new approach comes as San Francisco continues to grapple with a high number of fatal overdoses, with 621 deaths recorded in 2025, a number largely unchanged from the 635 deaths in 2024. - The center is part of Mayor Lurie's "Breaking the Cycle" initiative, which also launched a 24/7 crisis stabilization center at 822 Geary in 2025. - Supervisors will have another chance to evaluate the RESET Center's performance and funding during the city's budget negotiations in the summer of 2026.
