While SF and a few other cites are very progressive towards drug use/crime, the majority of the US is not. It's no surprise the cities with the most progressive

While SF and a few other cites are very progressive towards drug use/crime, the majority of the US is not. It's no surprise the cities with the most progressive attitudes attract drug users. For some reason SF has an extreme policies on many issues and implements strange policies that are sure to fail when implemented only locally. Unless you want to bear the cost of treating every victim/drug user in the US, you can't be too lenient. Additionally, SF thinks they have have their cake and eat it. The bay area is one of the most expensive places in the world. Providing housing to the even the most victimized in society doesn't change that. It doesn't address the root issue. (Low income housing is even worse, it let's many people afford renting and a few afford owning via easy loans which in turn pushes prices higher.) Besides that I agree with the article. Tough love in some form is often needed to break addition. Addiction is by definition when you cannot break the cycle yourself. Laws need to be more nuanced. Drug use in private and without slowing/quickly killing yourself is not the governments business. Drug use in a public street should be. Addiction should be handled like any medical case which can involve state-backed psych holds.