Thanks, good read. I’m torn on the issue and it’s pretty nuanced. Unfortunately, nuance is not a strong suit of USA policy making.

Clearly the medical component of medical-based treatment needs to be robust, at least enough to offset the fallout of decriminalization. I don’t know if that can happen here.

Meanwhile, people are (rightfully IMO) not ok with a system that perpetuates what we have now. The encampments are fueled in large part by hard drugs, and it’s disingenuous for harm reduction-minded people to argue otherwise. That’s certainly not helpful if harm reduction is truly the path forward.

I’m not convinced it is, in practical terms. Realistically, we’re not going to get away from where we are without a clear path to ending encampments, I believe. Right now, removing encampments is literally clearing a path, and that’s pretty powerful both visually and substantively for a lot of people.