Alcohol-Free, or Free-Alcohol

Latest News from San Francisco

The City of San Francisco is providing free beer and vodka shots to homeless alcoholics at taxpayer expense under a little-known pilot program. The "Managed Alcohol Program" operated by San Francisco's Department of Public Health serves regimented doses of alcohol to voluntary participants with alcohol addiction in an effort to keep the homeless off the streets and relieve the city's emergency services. Experts say the program can save or extend lives, but critics wonder if the government would be better off funding treatment and sobriety programs instead. "Established in countries such as Canada and Australia, a managed alcohol program is usually administered by a nurse and trained support staff in a facility such as a homeless shelter or a transitional or permanent home, and is one method to minimize harm for those with alcohol use disorder," the California Health Care Foundation explains in an 2020 article describing the pilot program.

According to some sources the program costs about $5 million a year and the city has spent about $20 million on a program that has attracted some interest from a national college and university fraternity.

I Phelta Thi has offered to help the taxpayers in San Francisco by giving up their annual spring break trip to Florida. Instead of lounging on a Florida beach, they will distribute the beer and vodka shots in SFO at no charge to taxpayers.

As one six-year member of Phelta House said, "We have a lot of experience in alcohol distribution, and this would be an ideal community service program to serve both the homeless and the taxpayers that pay the bills".