(Headline USA) San Francisco reportedly is spending $5 million on a program that provides free alcohol to homeless people.
The “Managed Alcohol Program” has been in place for four years, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, and works to dispense “controlled doses” of vodka and beer to homeless people at specific times of the day.
The program is run out of a former hotel in the city’s seedy Tenderloin district and has 20 beds available.
Tech CEO Adam Nathan—founder of Blaze, a small business marketing tool—drew attention to the program over the weekend.
“Where’s the recovery in all of this?” Nathan tweeted.
“Inside the lobby, they had a kegs set up to taps where they were basically giving out free beer to the homeless who’ve been identified with [alcohol use disorder],” he added. “It’s set up so people in the program just walk in and grab a beer, and then another one. All day.”
Did you know San Francisco spends $2 million a year on a "Managed Alcohol Program?" It provides free Alcohol to people struggling with chronic alcoholism who are mostly homeless. I stumbled upon the building where they have this program. This is what I saw.🧵
— Adam Nathan • blaze.ai (@adampnathan) May 8, 2024
Nathan went on to blast San Francisco officials for using taxpayer dollars on programs such as this and keeping it hidden from the public.
“I’m no doctor or ‘expert’ on issues of drug policy,” he continued. “But I am a taxpayer. When did this Managed Alcohol Program get approved? Where were the public hearings? Why is it hidden away in an old hotel?”
Tom Wolf, founder of the Pacific Alliance for Prevention and Recovery, agreed as a recovering heroin addict who once lived on the street that the program makes no sense.
“I don’t really see what the benefit is of all of this, and I’m glad it was exposed,” he said.
“It’s not a good idea, not when you consider the fact that, over the last four years, San Francisco spent $20 million to basically service a total of a couple of hundred people… by giving them free vodka and beer,” he added. “For that amount of money, we could have funded 60 drug treatment beds instead.”
Mayor London Breed came under fire for attempting to put stipulations on a similar program the city has set up for drug addicts.
Facing a massive uptick in violent crime, homelessness and other major issues that have driven businesses and residence from the once picturesque city, turning it into something of a hell hole, Breed, who faces re-election in November, has said she plans to require welfare recipients be tested for drugs before receiving their government checks.
