Fentanyl in San Francisco isn’t what it used to be, drug users say. A more diluted version of the lethal opioid, called “soap” in some circles, is fueling fits of desperation on city streets.
More than a year into a drug crackdown that has resulted in thousands of arrests and the seizure of over one hundred kilos of drugs, users in the Tenderloin neighborhood say they’re starting to see a trickle-down effect in the drug supply — and on their wallets.
The overpriced “soap” that now litters the fentanyl market is spurring robberies and, counterintuitively, making it more difficult to escape homelessness and addiction as users seek larger quantities of the drug, they say.
It’s unclear what’s causing the decline in quality, but some users attribute it to the city’s crackdown on the visible drug scene in the Tenderloin. Since May 2023, local police have made 1,148 arrests related to drug dealing, 1,438 arrests for drug use and have seized more than 109,000 grams of fentanyl.
Samuel Boles said he used to visit San Francisco twice a month to pick up fentanyl when he lived in a trailer in Mendocino. But as the quality of the drugs declined, his visits became more frequent, until he found himself living on the city’s streets.
“There’s only one or two people in town who actually have anything good,” Boles said, sitting on a Tenderloin sidewalk surrounded by suitcases filled with his belongings. “It’s extremely difficult for people living outside the city.”
San Francisco has earned a reputation for cheap fentanyl, notching prices below those in other major U.S. cities, according to Drug Enforcement Agency data analyzed by The Standard. However, purity levels of the drug tend to range lower than in other places, partly accounting for the price difference. Now, users say, poor-quality fentanyl has gone up in price locally, and most dealers don’t offer refunds.
“It’s just money down the drain,” said a man named Mo, who said he was homeless and declined to give his last name. “If it’s used, you can’t take it back.”
Proponents of stricter drug laws say weaker drugs with higher prices are a deterrent that pushes users to seek recovery. Cedric Akbar, director of forensic services at Westside Community Services, said his drug treatment programs have seen an uptick in clients since May.
“We’re starting to get more and more people,” Akbar said. “Do they stay? That’s a whole other thing.”
Some people with addiction say that, lately, it’s harder to get through the day. Karl Ramsey, who lives in subsidized housing in the Tenderloin, said he’s sometimes unable to carry out simple tasks due to withdrawal symptoms.
“It’s almost harder to quit now that it’s worse,” Ramsey said. “It makes it harder to make it to appointments.”
The Department of Public Health and San Francisco Police Department said they don’t track the purity of street drugs. But data from the DEA show that fentanyl purity across California has decreased from an average 29% last year to 23% this year — still “really high,” a spokesperson noted.
The San Francisco AIDS Foundation and GLIDE test individual batches of drugs for clients but don’t track citywide data on the supply.
“In an unregulated drug supply, ingredients and potency are always shifting,” the AIDS Foundation said in a statement. “Since [we] started offering drug checking services, the relative amount of fentanyl in the fentanyl samples we have analyzed has been highly variable.”
Donna Hilliard, executive director of the nonprofit Code Tenderloin, said many of her clients have complained about the quality of fentanyl in recent months, and it’s creating a hostile environment on the streets.
“This lady was telling me she did the test, and it was only 2% fentanyl,” Hilliard said. “It was, like, fingernail-polish remover and all this other crap.”
A man named Ace, who is homeless and refused to give his last name, said he can taste when his fentanyl is “stepped on,” meaning it has been cut with other substances. He said the shifting drug supply makes him more afraid of overdosing.
“You’ve got to make the hardest choice ever,” Ace said. “Do I use something that doesn’t taste good to me? I’m taking a risk higher than what I would usually take.”
Others argue that the decreasing potency is a victory in the city’s fight against the overdose crisis, which reached unprecedented levels last year. In June, the city’s overdose death toll was 48, the lowest since July 2022, according to preliminary data. However, the data are known to fluctuate wildly from one month to another without explanation.
“It’s a good thing,” said Cregg Johnson, founder of the nonprofit Positive Directions Equals Changes, of the decreased potency. “It’s going to help address the ODs, because the dope is death.”
But several users told The Standard they are unable to simply quit using fentanyl, which they describe as their medicine, and that the increasing drug busts have made their lives less safe.
“People get crazy,” Boles said. “They start robbing and hurting each other.”