If 2020 wasn’t the year that made us exclaim, “What in the hell are they doing?” at least three times a day, 2021 sure will be.

One such “WTH?” moment is brought to you by a San Francisco group aiming to “help” city residents properly use the deadly opioid Fentanyl. As independent journalist Erica Sandberg pointed out in a tweet containing a photo of a guide being distributed in the city, there were 700 fatal ODs in 2020 in San Francisco, most due to Fentanyl – outpacing COVID deaths, according to Mercury News.

"How to Smoke Fentanyl" guides and gear being distributed in San Francisco. 700 fatal ODs in 2020, most due to this drug. Hard to argue that the city isn't actively trying to keep people down and addicted, if not kill them. @DOPEproject @SF_DPH pic.twitter.com/3gZMJwKlqI

— Erica Sandberg 舊金山的神奇女俠 (@EricaJSandberg) January 19, 2021

Here is a more detailed picture of the first page of the guide – because it has to be read to be believed.

It really is a step-by-step guide; it begins with instructing users to start with a square piece of aluminum foil and includes helpful hints such as:

• Shape your foil so it has a catch for drugs
• Common practice is to put the shiny side down and smoke on the matte side

And on to page 2:

More helpful hints from the brochure authors about the flash point of Fentanyl, the preferred diameter and material of straws, and using brillo to collect residue.

So, who is the author of the manual? Which organization distributed it? At this point it’s not clear, but sources say that two organizations are the most likely culprits:

1) The DOPE Project, a division of the National Harm Reduction Network

2) San Francisco Drug Users’ Union (is EVERYTHING in California tied to a union?)

From the San Francisco Drug Users’ Union’s “About Us” page:

The San Francisco Drug Users’ Union is a nonprofit organization offering harm-reduction based services to people who use drugs. Located in the heart of the city’s Tenderloin neighborhood, the Union provides access to sterile syringes, Naloxone training and distribution, HIV and Hepatitis C testing, and referrals for community-based medical and mental health services.

We are also a community of people who use drugs. We aim to build self-worth, positive coping skills, and strong ties. From cleaning up syringe litter to staffing our Drop-In Center to raising their voices at City Hall, the people we serve are involved in everything we do. They are us.

So, we have people who use drugs “helping” others to expertly use drugs instead of seeing Fentanyl overdose as the public health crisis that it is. Great.

Ricky Gervais’ Netflix series “After Life” has a poignant scene depicting exactly what these people are doing to their fellow drug users. (Note: Don’t let this scene scare you away from watching the show, which is brilliantly funny, though dark, and eventually turns out hopeful.)

But, as Sandberg says, enough.

indefensible. people more dead than alive – until there really is no life left to save. so I’m going to beg. please stop this bastardization of harm reduction. promote and provide treatment. we’ve had enough suffering and death. pic.twitter.com/5atMDhWzGo

— Erica Sandberg 舊金山的神奇女俠 (@EricaJSandberg) January 19, 2021

At some point, all of this “help” from the “harm reduction” community looks like, well, assisted suicide.