WEBVTT - Tom Wolf on the improvements to the drug problem in San Francisco 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:03.280 It is the fixed California hour on the John Phillips Show, 0:00:03.360 --> 0:00:06.160 Johnny's on Vacation. It's Randy Wang here and the phone 0:00:06.200 --> 0:00:08.360 number to join us is eight hundred two two two 0:00:08.440 --> 0:00:11.400 five two two two one eight hundred two two two 0:00:11.440 --> 0:00:14.280 five two two two. Your emails at Johnny Don't Like 0:00:14.320 --> 0:00:17.160 Show at gmail dot com or Randy Wang Radio at 0:00:17.160 --> 0:00:18.040 gmail dot com. 0:00:18.079 --> 0:00:18.960 I do check both. 0:00:19.239 --> 0:00:21.280 You can search for the John Phillipshow wherever you get 0:00:21.280 --> 0:00:24.320 your podcasts. 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He 0:01:00.120 --> 0:01:04.920 is a recovery advocate based in San Francisco. His website 0:01:05.000 --> 0:01:09.360 is Tomwolfrecovery dot com. Tom Wolf, Welcome back to the 0:01:09.400 --> 0:01:10.360 John Phillips Show. 0:01:11.800 --> 0:01:13.280 Hey Randy, it's great to be back. 0:01:13.880 --> 0:01:18.600 So your Mayor Daniel Lurry had quite the week where 0:01:19.080 --> 0:01:22.120 one pole calls him the most popular mayor in the 0:01:22.520 --> 0:01:25.360 entire country, and he got to hold a press conference 0:01:25.360 --> 0:01:29.160 showing a noticeable drop in homelessness in San Francisco. 0:01:29.200 --> 0:01:30.000 What do you make of it? 0:01:31.400 --> 0:01:34.560 Well, I mean, if you come to San Francisco, you'll 0:01:34.600 --> 0:01:37.760 see that homelessness on the street is down. There's less 0:01:37.959 --> 0:01:40.720 what they call unsheltered homeless on the street. Do we 0:01:40.800 --> 0:01:43.400 still have open drug markets, yes. Do we still have 0:01:43.560 --> 0:01:47.000 a lot of overdose deaths, yes, But it's visibly better 0:01:47.000 --> 0:01:50.120 in neighborhoods like the Tenderloin and South of Market in 0:01:50.120 --> 0:01:53.240 San Francisco, where just a couple of years ago you 0:01:53.320 --> 0:01:55.680 had four hundred tenths on the street at one point. 0:01:56.080 --> 0:01:58.920 Now there's less than thirty on the street. So we're 0:01:58.960 --> 0:02:00.320 actually seeing some proms. 0:02:01.000 --> 0:02:03.720 It is so wild and it's such a different picture 0:02:03.720 --> 0:02:06.720 of homelessness than compared to Los Angeles. I counted one 0:02:06.800 --> 0:02:10.359 hundred tenths just on Vano and Boulevard from Bourbank Airport 0:02:10.440 --> 0:02:12.360 to my house on the other side of the valley 0:02:12.600 --> 0:02:15.680 when we were flying back from San Francisco this weekend. 0:02:17.720 --> 0:02:22.520 Los Angeles is its own, like separate ecosystem. You almost 0:02:22.520 --> 0:02:25.000 have to put it in a separate category when you 0:02:25.040 --> 0:02:27.919 talk about homelessness than any other city in the country, 0:02:28.320 --> 0:02:33.360 because it's miles and miles of tents, thousands of homeless, 0:02:33.440 --> 0:02:36.960 forty seven thousand in LA seventy four thousand in La County, 0:02:37.600 --> 0:02:41.560 and you also have things like human trafficking and prostitution happening, 0:02:41.960 --> 0:02:45.360 along with gangs that deal drugs, all wrapped up within it. 0:02:45.880 --> 0:02:50.240 And honestly, the leadership in LA is absolutely failing at 0:02:50.280 --> 0:02:52.240 addressing even the slightest change. 0:02:52.960 --> 0:02:55.360 I like to say that LA looks at what San 0:02:55.400 --> 0:02:59.080 Francisco did three years ago, and instead of realizing that 0:02:59.120 --> 0:03:01.240 they're already on the other side of it, they like 0:03:01.320 --> 0:03:02.560 to double down on stupid. 0:03:04.880 --> 0:03:08.000 That's a great point. In LA's not alone. Seattle's also 0:03:08.040 --> 0:03:11.679 doubling down on stupid. It's really unfortunate in LA. There's 0:03:11.800 --> 0:03:15.519 just a couple of really pragmatic elected officials down there, 0:03:15.560 --> 0:03:18.480 but then they're being led by Karen Bass, who's just 0:03:18.560 --> 0:03:21.320 done an abysmal job. I mean, there's no other way 0:03:21.320 --> 0:03:22.840 to look at it. And you know I'm not here 0:03:22.840 --> 0:03:24.760 to like bash her, but you got to be honest, 0:03:25.080 --> 0:03:28.880 like you have to look at results. Has homelessness really dropped? 0:03:29.240 --> 0:03:31.160 She says it has, but all she have to do 0:03:31.240 --> 0:03:34.680 is drive down Figaro Street or go to skid Row 0:03:34.720 --> 0:03:36.200 and you know that that's not true. 0:03:36.360 --> 0:03:38.720 Yeah, if you ask anybody at skid Row, they will 0:03:38.720 --> 0:03:41.360 say the problem has not gotten any better. Some will 0:03:41.400 --> 0:03:43.880 say the problem has gotten worse. In a RAND study 0:03:44.240 --> 0:03:47.520 looked at specific neighborhoods, including skid Row, and found Karen 0:03:47.600 --> 0:03:50.000 Bass's numbers to be thirty percent off. 0:03:51.760 --> 0:03:54.120 Yeah, I mean, so look, economics one on one is 0:03:54.160 --> 0:03:57.880 you can manipulate data, right, And so she's cherry picking 0:03:57.960 --> 0:04:02.720 data from one specific study that we know is is 0:04:03.040 --> 0:04:06.200 inaccurate because it's all based on self reported data and 0:04:06.240 --> 0:04:10.040 what volunteers happen to see in that snapshot of a moment. 0:04:10.920 --> 0:04:14.480 That's how they arrive at conclusions. Like you hear all 0:04:14.520 --> 0:04:17.159 these homeless organizations saying only twenty nine percent of the 0:04:17.160 --> 0:04:20.120 people on the street struggle with addiction when we know 0:04:20.240 --> 0:04:21.719 that it's eighty percent or higher. 0:04:22.320 --> 0:04:25.360 So what are some of the lessons that our buffoons 0:04:25.360 --> 0:04:28.360 in Los Angeles can learn from, not only San Francisco, 0:04:28.560 --> 0:04:31.839 but neighboring San Jose, which you have seen real improvements 0:04:31.880 --> 0:04:33.040 in the last couple of years. 0:04:33.920 --> 0:04:38.440 Well, they injected accountability back into the policy of how 0:04:38.440 --> 0:04:41.920 they approach holmlessness. So in San Jose they basically give 0:04:41.960 --> 0:04:44.839 you three opportunities to accept services if you're on the street, 0:04:44.880 --> 0:04:47.680 and if you turn down those services three times, then 0:04:47.720 --> 0:04:50.720 it becomes punitive. At that point then the police get involved. 0:04:51.040 --> 0:04:54.559 In San Francisco, they started breaking up the open drug 0:04:54.600 --> 0:04:58.000 markets during the day, so they're still there at night, 0:04:58.080 --> 0:05:00.280 but they're not so much there in the day anymore. 0:05:00.839 --> 0:05:02.520 They went in. The first thing they did is they 0:05:02.600 --> 0:05:05.240 arrested everybody that had an open warrant, and that turned 0:05:05.279 --> 0:05:08.160 out to be about twenty five percent of the people 0:05:08.200 --> 0:05:12.120 on the street actually were absconding from justice. They were 0:05:12.200 --> 0:05:14.960 running from justice from other counties, even to other states. 0:05:15.400 --> 0:05:17.919 And so yesterday I saw a video in San Francisco 0:05:17.960 --> 0:05:20.560 where someone was arrested by the FBI. That means they 0:05:20.600 --> 0:05:23.080 had a federal warrant when they were being arrested. So 0:05:23.960 --> 0:05:26.760 those are some of the steps that we've taken putting 0:05:26.800 --> 0:05:31.360 accountability back into the process, and you're seeing almost immediate results. 0:05:32.240 --> 0:05:32.480 Now. 0:05:32.560 --> 0:05:35.800 One of the new strategies that Lurie has unveiled specifically 0:05:35.800 --> 0:05:39.440 in the Tenderloin is the is the Reset Center someplace 0:05:39.480 --> 0:05:42.839 where we would take people who are high on fentanyl 0:05:42.960 --> 0:05:45.599 or math instead of taking them to jail and trying 0:05:45.600 --> 0:05:48.440 to get them cleaned before they try to offer them help. 0:05:49.520 --> 0:05:51.479 I know this program just started, but what do you 0:05:51.560 --> 0:05:51.960 think of it? 0:05:53.480 --> 0:05:55.719 I mean, I think it's good. Look they're looking for 0:05:55.760 --> 0:05:58.880 an in between because here's the reality. If you arrest 0:05:58.920 --> 0:06:03.120 somebody on the street or using drugs or being you know, 0:06:03.240 --> 0:06:06.320 under the influence, that's a low level misdemeanor. They're going 0:06:06.400 --> 0:06:08.520 to go to jail. They're gonna get booked into jail, 0:06:08.560 --> 0:06:10.400 and they're going to be released within twenty four hours. 0:06:10.440 --> 0:06:12.960 And then you just took that cop that did that 0:06:13.080 --> 0:06:15.120 arrest off the street for four hours to do a 0:06:15.120 --> 0:06:19.039 police report. The resets Center gives the police an opportunity 0:06:19.080 --> 0:06:21.599 to pick people up off the street, taken to this 0:06:21.680 --> 0:06:25.440 facility where they have to stay for twelve hours. There's 0:06:25.480 --> 0:06:28.000 a sheriff's deputy there, making sure that they stay for 0:06:28.080 --> 0:06:31.360 twelve hours until they sober up, and then they're being 0:06:31.480 --> 0:06:34.840 offered treatment on demand. At that point, they're saying, hey, 0:06:34.960 --> 0:06:37.440 we can get you into a detox bed today, you 0:06:37.520 --> 0:06:39.359 want to take it, that kind of thing, and I 0:06:39.360 --> 0:06:41.240 think that you're going to start to see, you know, 0:06:41.960 --> 0:06:44.279 while the results will be limited, they only have twenty 0:06:44.320 --> 0:06:47.960 five chairs in there, you're going to start to see 0:06:47.960 --> 0:06:49.839 some positive results over time, I think. 0:06:50.160 --> 0:06:50.400 Well. 0:06:50.440 --> 0:06:52.719 And another thing that the city has been trying to 0:06:52.760 --> 0:06:58.200 advocate for, specifically Supervisor Dorsey, is having housing that is 0:06:58.320 --> 0:07:01.200 drug free, which is such a crazy concept even have 0:07:01.279 --> 0:07:03.839 to say out loud in the state of California. But 0:07:03.960 --> 0:07:07.080 that is a controversial idea. 0:07:07.640 --> 0:07:10.600 It is a controversial idea. Look, last year, there was 0:07:10.640 --> 0:07:13.480 an Assembly bill that made it to Newsom's desk that 0:07:13.560 --> 0:07:15.040 I was a big part of. I was a co 0:07:15.080 --> 0:07:17.400 sponsor of that bill. It was Assembly Bill two fifty 0:07:17.440 --> 0:07:21.320 five to just ask for up to ten percent of 0:07:21.400 --> 0:07:24.160 housing ballers to be used for drug free recovery housing. 0:07:24.440 --> 0:07:27.560 And at the last minute he vetoed that bill, which 0:07:27.600 --> 0:07:30.360 is insane to me because there's clearly a need. Look, 0:07:30.680 --> 0:07:33.120 you go to rehab, let's say a ninety day program 0:07:33.120 --> 0:07:35.400 and you come out of rehab and they put you 0:07:35.480 --> 0:07:37.880 back in the same SRO building that you were in 0:07:37.960 --> 0:07:40.640 on skid row. The chances of you staying sober are 0:07:40.720 --> 0:07:43.760 like zero. You have no chance of staying sober. So 0:07:43.840 --> 0:07:46.559 you've just wasted all that time and money and work 0:07:46.560 --> 0:07:49.000 and effort to get someone sober just to have them 0:07:49.000 --> 0:07:51.560 go right back to using again. We need to create 0:07:51.600 --> 0:07:55.600 spaces so we can break this cycle of addiction, which 0:07:55.640 --> 0:07:58.440 is really the key to reducing homelessness, is breaking that 0:07:58.520 --> 0:08:01.760 cycle of addiction, getting people not only into treatment, but 0:08:01.800 --> 0:08:03.960 then giving them a place to live after that for 0:08:04.000 --> 0:08:06.480 a while that's drug free, so they can get on 0:08:06.520 --> 0:08:10.000 their feet and hopefully get a job and re enter society, 0:08:10.040 --> 0:08:12.239 which is what we should all want well. 0:08:12.040 --> 0:08:14.680 And I think San Francisco really was the poster child 0:08:14.760 --> 0:08:17.440 for why housing first doesn't work, because you've told you've 0:08:17.480 --> 0:08:19.840 said that statyst's one this show before, but it's always 0:08:19.840 --> 0:08:23.480 worth mentioning A big portion of overdose deaths in the 0:08:23.520 --> 0:08:26.840 city of San Francisco happened inside those SROs. 0:08:28.200 --> 0:08:31.560 That's right, and we have the data now. One in 0:08:31.720 --> 0:08:35.400 four overdose deaths in San Francisco now come in inside 0:08:35.480 --> 0:08:38.760 permanent supportive housing. We're housing first housing, and this is 0:08:38.840 --> 0:08:41.880 why I support HUD. At the federal level, they're trying 0:08:41.920 --> 0:08:46.040 to change and unravel housing first to create more opportunities 0:08:46.080 --> 0:08:49.880 for transitional housing and drug free housing, et cetera. And 0:08:50.080 --> 0:08:54.000 states like California are actually suing the federal government. They're 0:08:54.040 --> 0:08:56.720 suing HUD to try to block it because they want 0:08:56.760 --> 0:08:59.680 to protect all the NGOs that are getting millions and 0:08:59.679 --> 0:09:03.640 millions of dollars in funding to keep running these buildings 0:09:03.960 --> 0:09:06.920 that they call housing that are just drug dends where 0:09:06.960 --> 0:09:09.520 people end up dying at a rate of one in 0:09:09.679 --> 0:09:13.319 four and it's just not It's not only not sustainable, 0:09:13.320 --> 0:09:16.000 it's actually cruel to the people that you're trying to help. 0:09:16.280 --> 0:09:18.160 You know, I almost forgot about that because I do 0:09:18.240 --> 0:09:20.079 follow you in social media. But yeah, you were at 0:09:20.080 --> 0:09:23.240 the White House recently, you were taking this message national. 0:09:24.640 --> 0:09:27.040 Yes, sir, I've been to the White House now twice 0:09:27.160 --> 0:09:30.480 in the last month. UH, working in conjunction with the 0:09:30.520 --> 0:09:33.480 Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Office of 0:09:33.600 --> 0:09:37.400 National Drug Control Policy, which just released their National Drug 0:09:37.440 --> 0:09:42.280 Strategy last week that focuses on drug prevention, on recovery 0:09:42.320 --> 0:09:46.959 from addictions on accountability. I'm going after the cartel's pumping 0:09:47.040 --> 0:09:50.000 fenconyl into the United States by the metric ton and 0:09:50.080 --> 0:09:53.120 I couldn't be honestly more grateful to say that I 0:09:53.240 --> 0:09:56.760 support them one hundred percent. They're actually putting the focus 0:09:56.800 --> 0:09:59.600 back on recovery for the first time in a long time, 0:09:59.600 --> 0:10:01.840 and it really makes it feel like my work is 0:10:01.880 --> 0:10:04.199 paying off because I was given a seat at the table. 0:10:04.800 --> 0:10:06.680 Hey, you think the next time you're down there, you 0:10:06.720 --> 0:10:09.120 could knock on the door of the DEA and see 0:10:09.120 --> 0:10:10.880 if they could go do a raid on the Hondos 0:10:10.880 --> 0:10:12.160 and the tenderloin. 0:10:13.040 --> 0:10:15.920 Man, you know what. So it's funny because I've had 0:10:15.920 --> 0:10:18.560 that conversation. But they don't need to go to San 0:10:18.600 --> 0:10:20.880 Francisco to do the raid. They need to go across 0:10:20.920 --> 0:10:23.559 the Bay to Oakland, where they all live. They know that. 0:10:24.480 --> 0:10:27.440 It's just there's a lot of political factors that go 0:10:27.520 --> 0:10:31.160 into that, and just right now in California with the 0:10:31.200 --> 0:10:34.160 sensitivity around ice and doing raids and things like that, 0:10:34.280 --> 0:10:39.200 and the DEA, Yeah, it would be an unpopular thing 0:10:39.240 --> 0:10:41.680 in this state to do even if it was the 0:10:41.800 --> 0:10:42.520 right thing to do. 0:10:42.760 --> 0:10:43.840 Well, that's what's wild. 0:10:43.920 --> 0:10:46.719 I always point this out because it's just it's baffling 0:10:46.760 --> 0:10:49.000 to me. But a couple of years ago, Matt Dorsey 0:10:49.080 --> 0:10:52.960 tries to amend the sanctuary city law in San Francisco 0:10:53.120 --> 0:10:57.080 to exempt Honduran fentanyl dealers, saying that we should be 0:10:57.080 --> 0:10:59.600 able to turn them over to ICE. And he got 0:10:59.640 --> 0:11:01.560 shot down and called a racist for that. 0:11:03.240 --> 0:11:05.800 Yeah he did, and you know, I give him a 0:11:05.840 --> 0:11:07.600 lot of credit for having the courage to go and 0:11:07.640 --> 0:11:10.920 do that. And all that was going to do was add, like, 0:11:10.960 --> 0:11:13.360 there's a list of exceptions for people that are illegal 0:11:13.360 --> 0:11:17.560 immigrants that commit crimes like murder and rape and sexual assault, 0:11:17.800 --> 0:11:20.000 those are exceptions in which you could be turned over 0:11:20.040 --> 0:11:22.640 to ICE to be deported. He just wanted to add 0:11:23.000 --> 0:11:27.120 a felony conviction for drug dealing to that list. That's simple, 0:11:27.600 --> 0:11:31.400 very simple modification. And it brought out all the immigrant 0:11:31.480 --> 0:11:34.280 rights groups and they protested and called them all kinds 0:11:34.320 --> 0:11:36.440 of names, and you know, the rest of the board 0:11:36.480 --> 0:11:39.000 had to vote voted down because they were looking over 0:11:39.000 --> 0:11:41.880 their shoulder at this kind of you know, frothing mob 0:11:42.440 --> 0:11:46.440 of radical leftists that were coming forward and saying, you 0:11:46.480 --> 0:11:48.920 can't do this, And it's just mind boggling to me. 0:11:49.320 --> 0:11:52.520 That they would want to protect organized drug dealers that 0:11:52.559 --> 0:11:55.480 have killed forty five hundred people in San Francisco in 0:11:55.520 --> 0:11:58.040 the last five years. It's truly mind boggling to be 0:11:58.360 --> 0:11:59.040 well and then. 0:11:58.920 --> 0:12:01.240 One of the other complicated, even if we're just trying 0:12:01.240 --> 0:12:04.040 to charge these people locally. Brooke Jenkins, who I think 0:12:04.080 --> 0:12:07.800 does a fantastic job, she has explained that even if 0:12:07.840 --> 0:12:11.160 they arrest a hunter and drug dealer, they tell the 0:12:11.240 --> 0:12:14.040 judge that they're a victim of human trafficking, and the 0:12:14.160 --> 0:12:15.080 judge buys it. 0:12:15.360 --> 0:12:16.880 Sometimes the jury buys it. 0:12:18.360 --> 0:12:22.600 Yeah, not just in a superior court, but in federal court. 0:12:22.720 --> 0:12:25.480 Sometimes the jury buys it. There was just a hung 0:12:25.600 --> 0:12:27.840 jury the other day in federal court here in San 0:12:27.840 --> 0:12:30.160 Francisco for a hunter and drug dealer that got picked 0:12:30.240 --> 0:12:33.559 up by the Feds. The jury was deadlocked on conviction, 0:12:34.120 --> 0:12:37.439 and they used the argument that they were dealing under duress, 0:12:37.760 --> 0:12:41.120 which is completely false. It's already been debunked. That whole 0:12:41.240 --> 0:12:45.160 argument has been debunked and disproven by a news article 0:12:45.200 --> 0:12:47.640 that ran in the San Francisco Chronicle two years ago 0:12:47.720 --> 0:12:50.440 about this. So it's amazing that they're still using that 0:12:50.559 --> 0:12:53.200 argument and people are still buying that false narrative. 0:12:53.640 --> 0:12:55.600 We're speaking with Tom Wolf. You can get them on 0:12:55.640 --> 0:12:58.400 social media at t Wolf Recovery and his website is 0:12:58.480 --> 0:13:01.160 Tomwolf Recovery dot com. Now, I was just up in 0:13:01.200 --> 0:13:03.480 San Francisco last week, and I didn't spend any time 0:13:03.520 --> 0:13:06.400 in the Tenderloin, but I thought the city looked cleaner 0:13:06.440 --> 0:13:08.440 that I've seen it in a very long time. I 0:13:08.480 --> 0:13:12.120 felt incredibly safe. Union Square was really clean. Of course, 0:13:12.160 --> 0:13:15.440 the good neighborhoods have always been vibrant and incredible. But 0:13:16.080 --> 0:13:18.800 what I have seen over the weekend is there's a 0:13:18.800 --> 0:13:22.679 lot of concern as to well cleanup efforts are going 0:13:22.720 --> 0:13:26.040 on in the Tenderloin, and in Soma a lot of 0:13:26.080 --> 0:13:28.160 the open air drug market is now getting pushed to 0:13:28.200 --> 0:13:28.800 the mission. 0:13:28.920 --> 0:13:30.400 What is going on in the mission? 0:13:31.720 --> 0:13:34.200 Okay, so there's two things going on in the mission district. 0:13:34.320 --> 0:13:37.680 Number One, the supervisor or the city council member that 0:13:37.760 --> 0:13:40.840 runs that district is out on mental health leave because 0:13:40.880 --> 0:13:43.680 she's embroiled in the middle of a scandal and is 0:13:43.760 --> 0:13:45.920 too afraid to come back to work to actually face 0:13:45.960 --> 0:13:49.959 the consequences. So there's no leadership in that district right now. 0:13:49.960 --> 0:13:52.439 That's number one. And then number two. It's true they've 0:13:52.480 --> 0:13:54.280 moved a lot of the people on the street out 0:13:54.320 --> 0:13:57.360 to the Mission district, including the organized drug dealers that 0:13:57.440 --> 0:13:59.440 they're out there at sixteenth Mission right now, and if 0:13:59.440 --> 0:14:02.760 you go there after six pm, it's three to four 0:14:02.800 --> 0:14:05.200 hundred people deep. So the crowds that we used to 0:14:05.200 --> 0:14:08.160 see at Civic Center a couple of years ago in 0:14:08.200 --> 0:14:12.160 San Francisco are now manifesting over at sixteenth Commission. And 0:14:12.200 --> 0:14:14.520 I really feel bad for that neighborhood because that's actually 0:14:14.559 --> 0:14:17.920 a really cool neighborhood that's being really adversely affected by 0:14:17.920 --> 0:14:21.560 the drugs. It doesn't help that around the corner there's 0:14:21.800 --> 0:14:26.120 basically a supervised an unsanctioned supervised consumption site that operates 0:14:26.160 --> 0:14:29.840 there that gives out free drug supplies to people on 0:14:29.880 --> 0:14:33.400 the street. So if you put those kinds of services there, 0:14:33.600 --> 0:14:37.040 expect it to become a magnet. And that's exactly what's 0:14:37.040 --> 0:14:39.880 happened to that neighborhood. And so with that said, there's 0:14:39.880 --> 0:14:41.840 still a lot of work to be done, but I 0:14:41.880 --> 0:14:45.480 will say overall, overall, San Francisco is doing much better. 0:14:45.920 --> 0:14:47.680 You know, in the last couple of minutes that we have, 0:14:47.840 --> 0:14:51.160 I'd love for you to explain your take on this, 0:14:51.280 --> 0:14:55.720 because you have lived experience, you were, you were formally homeless, 0:14:55.720 --> 0:15:00.720 you were formally addicted to these drugs, Can you explain 0:15:00.960 --> 0:15:04.200 to the average person how dangerous all of this harm 0:15:04.240 --> 0:15:05.400 reduction stuff is. 0:15:07.200 --> 0:15:09.920 Yeah, I mean, so, the idea of harm addiction originally 0:15:10.000 --> 0:15:12.680 was to keep you alive until you find the miracle 0:15:12.680 --> 0:15:15.120 of recovery, and really before that, it was to keep 0:15:15.120 --> 0:15:17.680 you from getting the HIV virus from the nineteen eighties. 0:15:17.680 --> 0:15:20.560 Back in the eighties. It's what that transformed into is 0:15:20.600 --> 0:15:23.880 just supporting drug users with giving you clean drug supplies, 0:15:24.200 --> 0:15:27.120 free crack pipes, free met pipes, free foil and strauts 0:15:27.120 --> 0:15:30.360 to smoke your fencial, free needles, all of that. It's 0:15:30.440 --> 0:15:33.080 kind of like giving someone a gun and saying, hey, 0:15:33.480 --> 0:15:35.520 the bullet dealer is right there on the corner, and 0:15:35.560 --> 0:15:38.000 you can buy a bullet for five bucks and you 0:15:38.040 --> 0:15:41.280 can play Russian roulette. That's basically what is happening with 0:15:41.360 --> 0:15:43.880 harm reduction. And that's how dangerous it is if you 0:15:43.880 --> 0:15:46.640 look at it that way, that's how lethal it's become. 0:15:46.960 --> 0:15:49.080 And it's really unfortunate because I don't think that was 0:15:49.080 --> 0:15:51.080 their original intent, but that's what it's become. 0:15:51.960 --> 0:15:55.720 It's completely out of control. In Los Angeles, we're seeing 0:15:55.760 --> 0:16:00.440 these needle pass out programs everywhere, including right out side 0:16:00.520 --> 0:16:04.960 of Norms Delhi in MacArthur Park. We're seeing in Sacramento 0:16:05.520 --> 0:16:11.280 they're now at the public libraries putting out a needle 0:16:11.400 --> 0:16:15.160 distribution center in the parking lot. It's like, how are 0:16:15.160 --> 0:16:17.800 you supposed to take your kids there? It's insane. 0:16:19.320 --> 0:16:22.400 It is insane, And look, I get it right, Like, 0:16:22.440 --> 0:16:25.080 I'm a former intervenous drug user, so I understand like 0:16:25.120 --> 0:16:27.720 you want to have clean supplies. But like, if you 0:16:27.760 --> 0:16:30.640 think about how much money the state spends on that, 0:16:31.160 --> 0:16:33.600 I mean, they spend like one hundred million dollars a 0:16:33.640 --> 0:16:36.160 year through the state Department of Public Health on these 0:16:36.200 --> 0:16:40.120 harm reduction services. How many treatment beds, how many detox 0:16:40.200 --> 0:16:44.720 beds could we fund and provide throughout California with that 0:16:44.840 --> 0:16:48.440 money instead? So I really would you know, ask people 0:16:48.480 --> 0:16:51.800 to really consider when they go out and vote and 0:16:51.840 --> 0:16:55.280 they're voting for someone for governor or whoever, they consider 0:16:55.360 --> 0:16:57.400 what that means, what kind of ripple effect that's going 0:16:57.480 --> 0:17:00.680 to mean down the line. When you get departments like 0:17:00.720 --> 0:17:03.240 public health that decide how much money they're going to 0:17:03.240 --> 0:17:07.440 spend on harm reduction services to keep the homeless industrial 0:17:07.480 --> 0:17:08.280 complex going. 0:17:09.040 --> 0:17:12.080 The website is Tomwolf Recovery dot com. You can follow 0:17:12.160 --> 0:17:15.080 him on social media and t Wolf Recovery. Tom Wolf, 0:17:15.080 --> 0:17:17.840 thank you so much for your message that you're putting 0:17:17.920 --> 0:17:20.399 out there every single day, and it's always such a 0:17:20.400 --> 0:17:21.720 pleasure to talk to you, my friend. 0:17:22.600 --> 0:17:24.439 Hey, it's my pleasure, Ran, thanks for having me. 0:17:24.840 --> 0:17:27.720 Eight hundred two two two five two two two is 0:17:27.760 --> 0:17:33.959 the telephone number. Let's go to David in Sherman Oaks. David, Hello, Hi, Ran, 0:17:34.200 --> 0:17:34.840 love your show. 0:17:34.920 --> 0:17:38.160 Thank you so much. Yeah, I just wanted to express 0:17:38.440 --> 0:17:43.399 uh irritation that the entire City of La library system 0:17:43.800 --> 0:17:46.359 is going to be shut down next Tuesday for what 0:17:46.440 --> 0:17:50.680 they call staff Development Day, all seventy three advnches. I 0:17:50.720 --> 0:17:53.800 don't know how many staff, maybe one thousand plus or solf. 0:17:54.119 --> 0:17:57.480 We have a one billion dollar budget short, one billion 0:17:57.480 --> 0:18:00.359 dollar budget footfall. Yet somehow they have the I'm and 0:18:00.400 --> 0:18:04.120 the money to shut down our entire library system at 0:18:04.119 --> 0:18:07.200 our expense for a whole day to do what staff development. 0:18:07.240 --> 0:18:10.280 It's really it's so irritating. 0:18:10.920 --> 0:18:13.360 They're going to watch a bunch of seminars and how 0:18:13.400 --> 0:18:16.480 to be better communicators. Meanwhile, the kids are not going 0:18:16.520 --> 0:18:19.760 to be able to read the books, and the homeless 0:18:19.760 --> 0:18:21.520 are not going to be able to watch porn at 0:18:21.520 --> 0:18:25.520 the library computers. It's going to be such a sad 0:18:25.600 --> 0:18:28.640 day in the city of La Well, I'm. 0:18:28.560 --> 0:18:31.399 Not homeless, but I need to never mind. But it's 0:18:31.560 --> 0:18:34.879 all getting aside. It's just frustrating because you know, working 0:18:34.920 --> 0:18:38.119 class people, you know, we depend upon the library for 0:18:38.200 --> 0:18:41.280 Internet and you know, legitimate stuff, whether it's looking for 0:18:41.320 --> 0:18:44.480 a job, or it's getting funding out what's going on 0:18:44.560 --> 0:18:47.040 with our healthcare providers or checking our banking. 0:18:47.240 --> 0:18:49.840 So yeah, and that is a resource that your tax 0:18:49.880 --> 0:18:52.480 dollars pay for. So that's a resource that should be 0:18:52.560 --> 0:18:56.080 open every single day. Thanks for bringing that to our attention, David, 0:18:56.240 --> 0:18:58.760 Thanks so much for the call. It's Randy Wang here 0:18:59.040 --> 0:19:02.600 on the John Phillips. He's got a Caroline in Santa Monica. Caroline. 0:19:02.600 --> 0:19:05.159 Hello, Hi, Randy. 0:19:05.400 --> 0:19:11.040 That guy about the lapo is so awesome, Mark. I 0:19:11.160 --> 0:19:13.240 have friends who work there. A friend of mine runs 0:19:13.320 --> 0:19:16.199 public services at the Central branch, and do you know 0:19:16.400 --> 0:19:18.840 kind of crap she has to put up from the 0:19:18.880 --> 0:19:23.639 public and on top of which they are technical except 0:19:23.640 --> 0:19:27.399 for having a voice to talk to. They're technically available 0:19:27.520 --> 0:19:30.359 twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. You 0:19:30.359 --> 0:19:34.879 can get ebooks, you can watch movies, you can search databases, 0:19:35.440 --> 0:19:42.080 and they get less than good support from our city 0:19:42.160 --> 0:19:44.960 fathers because they're always trying to cut their budget. So 0:19:45.080 --> 0:19:47.600 I think the guy was just completely out of line 0:19:47.880 --> 0:19:49.720 just because he can't go in one day. 0:19:50.520 --> 0:19:53.040 Well, he seems to be a big supporter of the library. 0:19:53.119 --> 0:19:55.720 He's upset that he can't use it, and he's confused 0:19:55.720 --> 0:19:57.159 as to why he can't use it. 0:19:57.200 --> 0:19:58.680 That seems pretty understandable. 0:20:00.240 --> 0:20:04.040 But what other departments in service dates A lot of 0:20:04.040 --> 0:20:06.359 them do, but they don't affect the public, and so 0:20:06.440 --> 0:20:11.880 he's taking out I think that he's giving the staff 0:20:11.920 --> 0:20:17.240 who do the actual work short shrift is what my 0:20:17.359 --> 0:20:24.719 problem is, Okay, because they work really hard and maybe 0:20:24.760 --> 0:20:28.960 they need a service day. Teachers get service days three 0:20:29.040 --> 0:20:30.120 or four times a year. 0:20:30.400 --> 0:20:32.119 Yeah, I don't know what they do with those. I 0:20:32.160 --> 0:20:34.840 think that's just an extra vacation day for them. Thank 0:20:34.840 --> 0:20:38.199 you so much for the call, Caroline, appreciate it. You know, 0:20:38.320 --> 0:20:41.680