The Facts

San Francisco now has a drunk tank for drug use. It’s called the RESET center and it’s a place where people arrested for public intoxication can sober up, with medically-trained supervision, instead of taking up high-cost ER beds or jail cells, as Natalia Gurevich reports in the San Francisco Examiner.

The program is launching in SoMa at 444 6th St. The Board approved the operating deal on a 9–2 vote (only Supervisors Jackie Fielder and Connie Chan voted no). The legislation was sponsored by the Mayor and co-sponsored by Supervisors Matt Dorsey, Rafael Mandelman, and Stephen Sherrill.

The Context

San Francisco’s overdose crisis remains severe: the city recorded 635 overdose deaths in 2024.

RESET is meant to create a fast, consistent “handoff” so officers can get back on patrol quickly and people in crisis aren’t left on sidewalks—or bounced between jail and the ER.

The GrowSF Take

Nobody wants people struggling with addiction sent to jail. And most people don’t need intensive, high-cost ER care. This is a great middle ground that gets people off the streets and into a safe place they can sober up.

We look forward to reviewing the performance metrics as they are made available, and if it works then the city should set more centers up. And if not, well, back to the drawing board.