Experts claim that this program can save lives or at least prolong them. But let’s be honest here, it’s not like the city is investing in their recovery or sobriety. Instead, they’re simply making sure these individuals stay off the streets and out of emergency services, which apparently saves the city a few bucks.

The Managed Alcohol Program, or MAP, was first introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic to keep vulnerable homeless individuals who were placed in isolation in hotel rooms from experiencing alcohol withdrawal. Now, it has expanded into a 20-bed program that operates out of a former hotel in Tenderloin, with a budget of $5 million annually.

The program’s nurses provide clients with a motel room, three meals a day, and enough alcohol “to meet their addiction needs, but keep someone at a safe level of intoxication.” What a lovely way to spend taxpayer money, right?

In addition to free alcohol, the program also allows marijuana use, because why not? There’s no policy against it, so these individuals can indulge in their vices as they please.

Critics, including the Salvation Army San Francisco and its CEO Adam Nathan, have called this program into question. Nathan criticized the program after visiting the hotel, claiming it felt odd and didn’t seem like it was addressing the root problem. But hey, who cares about recovery and sobriety when you can just keep people in a perpetual state of addiction, right?

San Francisco Mayor London Breed has even chimed in, stating that harm reduction isn’t actually reducing harm, but making things far worse. But who’s to argue with the experts who claim this program has saved $1.7 million in reduced hospital visits and police calls? Certainly not the people who are genuinely concerned about the well-being of these individuals and the city’s use of taxpayer funds.

San Francisco’s Managed Alcohol Program is a shining example of how a city can throw money at a problem without actually addressing the underlying issues. Cheers to that, I guess.