Drug Users' Voting Guide to District 6

On November 2, we will vote for a new supervisor to represent SOMA, the Tenderloin and parts of the Mission. We need a candidate who is going to fight for the health and safety of drug users, and who isn’t afraid to look for new solutions. To figure out where the candidates stand on our issues, we wrote up and sent them a survey. Glendon “Anna Conda” Hyde, James Keys, Jane Kim, Jim Meko, Debra Walker and Elaine Zamora responded. Theresa Sparks, h Brown and Matthew Drake were sent surveys, but did NOT respond. Read on to learn how many of the candidates feel about Safe Injection Sites, Harm Reduction, and homelessness! And don’t forget to VOTE!

For more info: visit www.sfdrugusersunion.org or call 415-990-3827

We formed the Drug Users’ Union because drug users are underrepresented experts on issues of drug user health and safety. What would you do to ensure drug users’ voices are heard in relevant policy arenas?

Anna Conda: “There is often a stigma or need to change the behaviors of drug users and I find this attitude counterproductive to the real needs of people who are using. I would try to continue to focus on issues surrounding peoples’ needs, and not ways to change them.”

James Keys: “I have fought for harm reduction to be implemented throughout the Department of Public Health and the Community Behavioral Health Services to all those who seek services and care.”

Jane Kim: “I am committed to the principles of harm reduction and believe that as a city we must do more to ensure that policies such as harm reduction are a priority for all city services, and that these principles are implemented and followed.”

Jim Meko: “I’m known as someone who brings everyone involved in an issue to the table, and lets them talk to each other and learn each other’s point of view.”

Debra Walker: “We need more respect in the political process for the expertise and insights of drug users, who understand these issues like no one else. I am heartened by the emerging political presence of the Drug Users’ Union during this election cycle.”

Elaine Zamora: “[I would] seek the input of organizations like yours, and others, such as SF Recovery Theater as well as people I know, friends and co-workers who are drug users and former drug users.”

What steps would you take to improve the lives of the homeless in San Francisco?

Anna Conda: “SRO quality of life must be regulated to ensure clean safe housing with services on site, and landlords who constantly abuse their positions will get three strikes before that building is assumed by the city and leased to a reputable company for management… [we also need more] public toilets, day centers, benches.”

James Keys: “My position is to take people living in SROs and move them into apartments…. We must have ‘wrap-around’ services available to ensure that people have the resources available in the SRO to be able to transition to a new apartment.”

Jane Kim: “We must provide… a more transparent process on how to access housing. I support another affordable housing bond measure… I also think we need to provide essential services and resources to the homeless population, such as efficient case management, valued social workers, mental health services, access to clinics etc, to ensure that people are getting the help they need.”

Jim Meko: “I believe we need to work on helping our homeless into housing rather than just setting up more shelters.”

Debra Walker: “I’ve worked hard for years on campaigns to expand affordable housing, protect rent control, prevent evictions, and improve conditions in SROs, which are often peoples’ last housing before becoming homeless.”

Elaine Zamora: “Discourage the application of the label “homeless” to every unpleasant activity occurring or observed… we need to revamp the shelter system, taking into consideration suggestions of the shelter users, homeless advocates, neighborhood businesses and residents.”

The Harm Reduction Coalition defines “harm reduction” as “a set of practical strategies that reduce negative consequences of drug use, incorporating a spectrum of strategies from safer use, to managed use to abstinence. Harm reduction strategies meet drug users ‘where they're at,’ addressing conditions of use along with the use itself.” (www.harmreduction.org).

The Department of Public Health has a policy which prioritizes funding organizations that engage in “harm reduction.” What is your position on harm reduction? And what would you do as supervisor of District 6 to ensure that harm reduction-based policies continue to be enacted and actualized?

Anna Conda: “Harm reduction is all the things mentioned in this questions plus housing and better access to social and medical services. It should also include help for people coming out of jails…. [We should] create funding for Safe Injection Sites and champion the cause…. Safe Injection Sites are a major part of my campaign.”

James Keys: “I not only support Harm Reduction, I teach it…. Until drugs are legalized we must make people feel comfortable enough with their use of drug s to look at the underlying reasons that they use….We must continue to fund services so that health care can be delivered to low-income families with children and poor and homeless people.”

Jane Kim: “I believe that harm reduction strategies are vital for the future of our city. For far too long there has been too much of an emphasis placed on the criminalization of people for their drug usage. Overwhelmingly people of color are disproportionately arrested and convicted for drug usage, and this had lead to a prison system that is unsustainable and rooted in system failures that leads to state budget deficits which adversely affects our city and county.”

Debra Walker: “My position on medical intervention is simply that it must be evidence-based: if it works, it works. And harm reduction clearly is effective…. I believe strongly in the concept of harm reduction, and hope we can work together to explore and expand policies that offer non-judgmental support in the long and difficult process of overcoming and recovering from addiction, and preventing further harm to those who are unable or simply not ready to do so.”

Elaine Zamora: “I often see this definition skewed, often producing more harm than reducing it, especially to those who are on the periphery”

What steps should be taken to continue to reduce drug overdose deaths in San Francisco?

Anna Conda: “Safe Injection Sites, more needle exchange hours and funding to… [put] Narcan at local posts around the city where this behavior is most common.”

James Keys: “De-criminalize it, legalize it, and then tax it. Then utilize the revenue to create and fund single-payer healthcare in California.”

Jane Kim: “I would continue to fund programs like the DOPE Project that works to educate the community on what to do if someone is overdosing… I also think it is vital for EMAS workers, the police department, and first responders to practice harm reduction when responding to emergencies involving overdose issues. Their first and only responsibility must be to address the safety and health of the person in crisis and nothing else.”

Jim Meko: “Find a public health researcher who will study it (as they did in Vancouver), hold community meetings to find out what neighbors are afraid will happen, have people (hopefully in terms of researchers and neighbors) establish current levels for the feared consequences, set up an oversight committee consisting of neighbors (both businesspeople and residents) to deal with any problems that come up, and continue monitoring after the safe injection site opens.”

Debra Walker: We need to strike a balance between prevention and harm reduction—and education is critical in this regard. We here in San Francisco have one of the highest rates of drug use per capita in the country, so it behooves us to stay engaged on national trends…Whether it ends up in death or hospitalization, drug overdose is a personal and a community tragedy and a mark of societal failure—a warning that we all must do better.”

Elaine Zamora: “I support safe injection sites, throughout the city, not just in one or two neighborhoods. I would advocate for training in Narcan administration for City employees, especially those working outside, police, property managers and desk clerks, etc and as part of CPR training”

Would you support a Safe Injection Site in San Francisco?

Anna Conda: Yes

James Keys: yes (however, at a 10/19/10 candidates Forum, Keys said he did not have enough information to decide if District 6 should have a Safe Injection Site)

Jane Kim: yes

Jim Meko: yes

Debra Walker: “a pilot program, yes”

Elaine Zamora: yes (at the 10/19/10 forum, Zamora said she would not like the Safe Injection Site to be in District 6)

Do you support San Francisco Proposition L – the” Sit/Lie law”?

Anna Conda: “absolutely NOT”

James Keys: no

Jane Kim: no

Jim Meko: no

Debra Walker: no

Elaine Zamora: no

Do you support California state Proposition 19, also known as the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act?

Anna Conda: “Yes, as long as it allows for smaller grower permits and non taxed medical crops.

James Keys: “Hell YES”

Jane Kim: yes

Jim Meko: yes

Debra Walker: yes

Elaine Zamora: yes