San Francisco’s new drug center lockup lets addicts walk right out
San Francisco has opened a new detention center for publicly intoxicated individuals that allows them to leave freely, as the facility has no locked doors. The center aims to provide a health-focused alternative to jail or hospital by offering sobriety support and addiction treatment. While detainees can walk out, they may be rearrested if they leave before being deemed fit for release.
- ▪The facility at 444 Sixth St. is designed to allow police to quickly process drug users without the paperwork of jail intake.
- ▪Detainees can stay up to 23 hours, but the average expected stay is less than eight hours.
- ▪Officials clarified that while individuals are detained, they are not formally arrested, despite earlier city statements suggesting otherwise.
- ▪Deputies can rearrest individuals who attempt to leave before they are sober and fit for release.
- ▪San Francisco ranks second in the U.S. for drug overdose deaths per capita, behind only Baltimore.
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Metro San Francisco new drug center lockup lets addicts walk right out By Katie Jerkovich Published May 1, 2026, 5:26 p.m. ET It’s a lockup with an open-door policy. A new detention center in San Francisco designed to hold recently arrested drug users allows detainees to simply walk out if they please. The downtown center, which has been pitched as an alternative to jails or hospitals, provides officers a place to take publicly intoxicated people to sober up and access addiction treatment. 5 The downtown center, which has been pitched as an alternative to jails or hospitals, provides officers a place to take publicly intoxicated people to sober up and access addiction treatment.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at US News – Latest Breaking Headlines, Photos & Videos | New York Post.
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