San Francisco Mayor Signs Legislation Expanding Drug-Free Supportive Housing to Combat Overdose Crisis
Key Insights
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie signed legislation to expand drug-free permanent supportive housing options for people exiting homelessness.
A 2025 Department of Public Health study found roughly one-quarter of overdose deaths in the city occur in permanent supportive housing.
The ordinance creates sober living sites with individualized recovery services, relapse-prevention planning, and case management support.
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie on Wednesday signed legislation to expand the number of drug-free permanent supportive housing options in the city, a move aimed at addressing the overdose crisis while giving residents the right to choose sober living environments.
The legislation, authored by District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey, creates more sober sites where drug use is banned and establishes a framework for managing residents who continue to use drugs, including a mechanism for eviction when behavior substantially disrupts the community.
"Drug-free permanent supportive housing options are critically important to the success of many people exiting homelessness — not simply for those in recovery or seeking recovery from addiction, but also for families with children, seniors, or anyone else who simply wants to live in a residential community free of the negative consequences that often accompany rampant drug use," Dorsey said in a press release.
The Overdose Toll in Supportive Housing
A Department of Public Health study published in 2025 showed that just over a quarter of overdose deaths in San Francisco occur in permanent supportive housing. Recovery advocate Tom Wolf, citing city data, noted that from 2020 to 2025, 784 people died of drug overdose in permanent supportive housing in San Francisco.
"I think we can no longer deny how Fentanyl has really changed the game," Wolf said. "How overdoses went from 17,000 in the year 2000 to 103,000 a year ago in the United States."
According to the Department of Public Health, San Francisco recorded 262 overdose deaths between January and June of this year, a 27% drop from the same period in 2025. The Department of Public Health estimates that over 37,000 San Franciscans struggle with drug addiction and recovery.
How the New Housing Model Works
The new housing options include individualized service plans, relapse-prevention and intervention planning, case management, peer support, and onsite recovery programming. The model is informed by national recovery-housing guidance and emphasizes community, housing stability, and helping residents build relationships, employment, education, health, and financial independence.
San Francisco currently has more than 15,000 permanent supportive housing units, most of which are in dedicated buildings with long-term affordable housing and onsite services. Under state policy, the city will continue to maintain housing that is not drug-free.
Eviction Protections and Relapse Management
The law allows room for recovering residents to relapse but creates a mechanism by which facility operators can "terminate a resident's tenancy when a participant's behavior substantially disrupts or impacts the welfare of the community in which the resident resides or is otherwise in violation of their lease."
Crucially, the legislation includes safeguards: if a tenant is using drugs but is otherwise complying with all the terms of their lease, the facility operator must receive confirmation from the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing that the resident has been offered alternative housing or shelter, so that they are not evicted into homelessness.
Supervisor Dorsey emphasized that residents would not be evicted on a first relapse. "We do want to make sure we are supporting people in their journeys," Dorsey said. "If people chose to not be in a drug-free environment, that should be OK, but it just stands to reason if we were to allow perpetual relapses and perpetual drug use, it ceases to be drug free housing."
A Shift from Harm-Reduction Orthodoxy
The ordinance represents a policy shift in a city where harm-reduction approaches have long dominated. Dorsey framed the legislation as affirming residents' rights to choose their living environment.
"This ordinance affirms the right of supportive housing residents themselves to choose a drug-free residential community if that's what they want — and finally moves us past the arrogant harm-reduction dogma that has too long insisted that the rights of active drug users must take precedence over the rights of everyone else," Dorsey said.
Mayor Lurie positioned the legislation as part of a broader transformation in how the city addresses homelessness and behavioral health. "Our administration is transforming how the city confronts the homelessness and behavioral health crisis," Lurie said. "We are not just getting people off the streets; we are helping them achieve long-term stability and recovery by standing up the right kind of housing and connecting them to the services they need."
The ordinance advanced through the Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee before receiving approval from the Board of Supervisors, culminating in the mayor's signature on Wednesday.