Another Day in Paradise

There is the San Francisco you see as a tourist. Then, there is the San Francisco I see as a health worker. Our city is unlike so many others. I've used in many cities across the US but San Francisco is like no other. We spend our time and energy saving the lives of addicts on a daily basis. It clearly is not enough readers.

Even in a "liberal" city like SF, we waste so much money on locking up low level drug offenders. Our drug policy fails at nearly every level. The United States needs to stop the War on Drugs. We then need to turn our attention to addiction as a health crisis, not a moral failing that deserves incarceration over treatment.

We also need to take a look at the privately run opiate replacement clinics that gouge suffering addicts for profit at the weakest point of their lives. These clinics charge up to $400 dollars a month when both suboxone and methadone come in a generic form. Why do the costs continue to remain so high so what should be standard medical treatment. 

 Of course, these are my opinions. I was fortunate enough to live in a city where I was able to get clean needles, clean water, and free and humane treatment for my addiction. Many are not as fortunate. 

Comments

  1. AnonymousJuly 13, 2013 at 4:45 AM

    Actually reading your blog has slightly put me off going to San Francisco...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. traceyh415July 13, 2013 at 9:17 AM

      It's a great city for visitors. Most of the things in my story are concentrated in the SOMA and tenderloin. In other parts of the city, you rarely see any of this stuff

      Delete
  2. UnknownJuly 13, 2013 at 10:14 PM

    agreed!!!!I hate, hate private owned clinics. They aren't clinics they are a business that profits off of addicts who want help while someone is making millions. I'm sure i probably paid for their car or vacations. Two long years at a private one was $100./wk. I was able to work for the first time in years but every dam cent went to them. And whether your on 3 milligrams of methadone or 80 mg. You are charged the same. Total scam i hate methadone clinics what a joke. If your considering going on it be ready to be its slave bc coming off is hell times 10. I'm on suboxone thru a Dr thank God. I saw the nurse give a patient someone elders dose whose was significantly higher than what she was taking and standing in a line is so degrading. Your not ppl to them, just $., that was my experience but i have heard of others that aren't like the one i went to but my experience left a bad taste in my mouth and an empty bank account w nothing to show for the years i worked my ass off cleaning houses hard physical work.

    ReplyDelete

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