A new task force in San Francisco was formed to address what city officials called an epidemic of methamphetamine addiction in the city.
San Francisco Supervisor Bevan Dufty spearheaded the effort and he, along with Mayor Gavin Newsom, announced its creation yesterday.
"We still hold the unenviable position of being one of the most drug-addicted cities in America,'' Mayor Gavin Newsom said Tuesday.
"We have been very focused on heroin addiction... one area we simply have not focused enough attention on is methamphetamine,'' Newsom said.
Methamphetamine has surpassed heroin as the number one drug addiction in San Francisco, Newsom said.
The drug is responsible in San Francisco for 9 percent of all drug-related emergency room visits and 18 percent of all drug-related deaths, according to the mayor's office.
Methamphetamine is linked to new HIV and sexually transmitted infections and other problems including homelessness, street crime and violence, according to the mayor's office.
Nearly one-third of HIV-positive individuals at the San Francisco City Clinic reported methamphetamine use in the previous six months, according to the mayor's office.
The highly-addictive drug "impacts a person's ability to make good decisions about sexual health," Dr. Steven Tierney, the director of HIV prevention for the city's Department of Public Health said Tuesday.
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