SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — A pilot program being developed by the City and County of San Francisco to address open-air drug use has been called counterproductive by a San Francisco supervisor. In a tweet, SF District 5 Supervisor Dean Preston claimed the plan would involve SF Mayor London Breed’s administration arresting people for public drug use.

“We have been informed that the Mayor’s Administration is preparing to start arresting people for public drug use,” Preston tweeted. “Arresting people for drug addiction is not ‘moderate’ nor ‘commonsense.’ It’s reactionary, cruel, and counterproductive.”

KRON4 reached out to the city for clarification on the plan, which has not yet been publicly rolled out. A statement from the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management said that the pilot program being developed is “to address situations when someone is so far under the influence of drugs that they may pose a danger to themselves or others.”

“We need every tool at our disposal to address the harm caused by open-air drug use,” the statement continued.

The pilot program will be proposed as part of Mayor Breed’s upcoming budget proposal, according to the city.

This is the complete statement from the SF Department of Emergency Management:

“San Francisco is committed to caring for people experiencing substance use disorder on the streets, as well as, mitigating the harm caused to communities by open-air drug use. 

The City is developing a pilot program to address situations when someone is so far under the influence of drugs that they may pose a danger to themselves or others.

We need every tool at our disposal to address the harm caused by open-air drug use.  A pilot program will be proposed as part of the Mayor’s upcoming budget proposal.“