IN SF, OPEN DRUG MARKETS ON FEDERAL LAND March 29, 2023

IN SF, OPEN DRUG MARKETS ON FEDERAL LAND by Randy Shaw on March 20, 2023 Photo of Corner of Federal Bldg Fills With DealersBy noon dealers fill land at Speaker Nancy Pelosi Federal Building Feds Must Step In San Francisco’s largest open air drug market is at Seventh and Stevenson Streets. Most of the 50-100 dealers are selling on federal property. The sidewalk borders what was renamed last December as the “Speaker Nancy Pelosi Federal Building. We honor Nancy Pelosi by allowing her namesake building to host an open air drug market? I took the above photo in the early morning before most dealers arrive. By noon there are so many dealers on federal property the sidewalk is barely visible (I did not feel it was safe to take photo then). Why aren’t federal officers clearing that area? I’m told that last Saturday there were 50-60 dealers in front of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Seventh Street. That’s also federal land. Federal drug crimes carry longer penalties. So why aren’t the feds arresting dealers and closing open air drug markets on federal land? Federal inaction toward deadly drug sales on federal land is not limited to SOMA. A federal building at 50 UN Plaza is why the famous 1977 disabled activist Section 504 sit-in led by the late Judy Heumann took place there. Currently, the Federal Security Service only patrols the outside of the Federal Building. That’s why dealers are rarely seen there. The Federal Security Service once agreed to cover the space between the Bart entrance and 50 UN Plaza. That’s not happening anymore. Why not? Biden Administration Must Act The federal government once made closing San Francisco drug markets a priority. On August 7, 2019 then-U.S. Attorney David Anderson announced a Tenderloin drug crackdown. Anderson’s team charged 32 people with selling drugs in the Tenderloin; most were connected to the longstanding drug scene at 101 Hyde, the current site of La Cocina. That 2019 scene is a small fragment of what emerged after COVID. I regularly talked with Anderson’s team between his announcement and the March 2020 onset of COVID. They were very committed. But COVID put their drug operation on the back burner. Anderson resigned following Biden’s election, leaving the San Francisco US Attorney spot vacant for over two years. Ismail Ramsey, son of former Berkeley council member and “warrior for justice” Henry Ramsey Jr., was only recently appointed. In his February State of the Union speech, Biden pledged to “launch a major surge to stop fentanyl production, sale, and trafficking.” Remarks of President Joe Biden – State of the Union Address as Prepared ... The White House The United States Capitol Mr. Speaker. Madam Vice President. Our First Lady and Second Gentleman. Members of Con... Last December, Biden extended a National Emergency to deal with the global drug trade. The President stated, “The trafficking into the United States of illicit drugs, including fentanyl and other synthetic opioids, is causing the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans annually, as well as countless more non-fatal overdoses with their own tragic human toll. Drug cartels, transnational criminal organizations, and their facilitators are the primary sources of illicit drugs and precursor chemicals that fuel the current opioid epidemic, as well as drug-related violence that harms our communities.” Sounds like a President who wouldn’t be happy to learn that in San Francisco drug cartels sell openly on federal land. Mayor Breed’s Outreach SFPD insists it can close the city’s drug markets without federal or state help. That’s why the Mayor has not called for the California Highway Patrol or National Guard to help close drug markets. While the Governor is reluctant to use the National Guard to stop drug sales, last week he authorized them to help deploy tiny homes in four counties across the state. One wonders why the National Guard can help cities with the homeless crisis but not with the national emergency caused by drug cartels. Mayor Breed sought federal help on the drug crisis when she met with the DEA, DOJ, and Nancy Pelosi’s office on her recent trip to Washington DC. Her staff plans to send a letter to the new US Attorney urging federal help on closing drug markets once he is sworn in. The SFPD believes the supplemental enables them to close all drug markets. Let’s hope that happens. But if not, plans for federal and state intervention must intensify. At a minimum the U.S. Attorney must ensure that federal land is off-limits to drug markets. Allowing the Nancy Pelosi Federal Building to host drug dealers is an embarrassment for the nation and particularly for San Francisco.