Last year, his office sent 228 drug offenders to prison to serve an average of 20 months, according to the state prison system, a steep drop from the 691 San Franciscans who served an average of 14.4 months in 1988, and an even steeper drop from the 832 people who served an average of 17.2 months in 1993. This type of savings is one of the rationales usually put forward for favoring treatment over prosecution. And judging from the city's arrest reports, the majority of San Francisco drug offenders are not getting into prison or treatment. They are staying on the street. Drug-related arrests are on the rise, indicating that the criminal activity associated with drugs is not going away.
Police blame the rise on an increase in drug trafficking, which has lowered the price of heroin.
Nevertheless, the numbers do not reflect well on the city's efforts to reduce crime through treatment on demand. A young Latina rolls into the emergency room on a gurney, screaming, and she won't stop. She screams, she takes a breath, then she screams again. Her face is covered with acne. She continues wailing, putting the ordinarily thick-skinned hospital staff on edge.