Tackle the Addiction Crisis

Addiction has devastated families in San Francisco and across the country, and decades of treating it as a moral failing or a crime instead of a health crisis have only made it worse. The introduction of deadlier and more addictive drugs like fentanyl have accelerated this crisis to new levels. We need a comprehensive drug addiction program to help people get clean that is grounded in evidence and compassion.

First, we need to make treatment as accessible as possible. Too often, addiction treatment is locked behind high-costs or complicated bureaucracies. For example, Methadone is one of the most effective treatments for opioid addiction, but federal rules trap it inside a restrictive clinic system that for-profit opioid treatment programs have lobbied hard to protect. I support the Modernizing Opioid Treatment Access Act, which would let addiction specialists prescribe methadone to be filled at a regular pharmacy. I'll also fight for major federal investment to expand treatment capacity so that anyone ready for help can get it immediately, not weeks or months later. And of course, I'll fight to ensure all addiction treatment is covered under a comprehensive Medicare for All plan.

We also have to embrace smart harm reduction policies that keep people alive long enough to recover. At the federal level, we have to free up more money for a wider variety of harm reduction programs. Syringe services programs are proven to reduce overdose deaths and the spread of HIV and hepatitis. I will work to repeal the federal ban on using funds to purchase syringes for these programs.

Finally, we need to stop the crisis at its source. It is far too easy to overprescribe addictive painkillers in America, and I'll fight for stronger prescribing rules and real accountability for the pharmaceutical companies that fueled this epidemic.