Supervisors back drug market intervention strategy with amendments after split debate

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on March 25 adopted an amended resolution urging implementation of a comprehensive Drug Market Intervention (DMI) strategy to address the city's fentanyl crisis, after an extended debate over enforcement, treatment and the appropriate role of law enforcement.

Supervisor Mahmood introduced the resolution, which proponents described as an evidence-based, supply-side framework combining interagency coordination, deterrence and expanded prevention and employment pathways. Mahmood said the Tenderloin district ' home to many children ' faces acute public-safety and public-health harms tied to open-air drug markets and that the resolution responds to advocacy from neighborhood groups, service providers and academics.

The resolution as amended directs city departments to prioritize coordination among law enforcement, public health and social services; to favor deterrence and interagency communication over punitive measures ' 'replacing enforcement with direct communication and deterrence whenever feasible' ' and to expand pathways to employment, education and rehabilitation for nonviolent dealers and users.

Mahmood described three amendments adopted on the floor: clarifying that enforcement alone cannot eliminate markets and should be minimized when possible; adding findings about the Drug Market Agency Coordination Center (DMACC), launched in 2023, noting DMACC's reported seizures (more than 300 pounds of fentanyl) and arrests (more than 2,000 felony arrests); and a final edit narrowing a clause so that the board ' rather than the resolution text itself ' recommends allocating resources to implement DMI strategies, emphasizing workforce and youth development and community-based disruption initiatives.

Opponents on the board raised sharply different concerns. Supervisor Fielder said the city risks increasing arrests and overdoses if enforcement is divorced from clear public-health metrics and from scaled treatment and respite capacity; Fielder urged pairing any market-disruption tactics with measurable treatment and street-conditions goals and called for a broader 'four pillars' hearing on drug policy. Supervisor Chan said she would not support centering city resources around a single academic model and worried about staffing and overtime costs associated with increased coordination, citing questions about DMACC's resource use.

After the floor amendment was accepted without objection, the roll call on the amended resolution yielded seven ayes and two no votes: Supervisors Chan and Fielder voted no. The Clerk announced the resolution adopted as amended.

The resolution directs a coordinated, citywide approach but does not itself appropriate funding or specify an implementation timeline; the board noted that additional staff-level planning, interagency work and possible funding requests would follow. Supporters called the vote a necessary step to pursue an evidence-driven approach to dismantling open-air drug markets while expanding prevention and employment pathways for affected youth, and opponents urged measurable public-health benchmarks and greater treatment capacity before broadening enforcement-focused interventions.