A new billboard being unveiled at one of San Francisco's most popular tourist attractions on Monday will warn visitors about the city's fentanyl problem.
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The advocacy group "Mother Against Drug Deaths" will take the wraps off a billboard at Union Square which shows an iconic photo of the Golden Gate Bridge with the caption, "Famous the world over for our brains, beauty, and now, dirt cheap fentanyl."
A picture of the poster can be viewed on the group's website here.
East Bay mom Gina McDonald said her daughter became addicted to drugs that she bought in San Francisco's open air drug markets. She told KCBS Radio she hopes the billboard will convince the city to finally shut those drug markets down.
"There's no rhyme or reason why drug dealers are allowed to run several city blocks openly selling fentanyl," she said.
"This is about life and death, it's not about toys and dollars," McDonald added.
Mothers Against Drug Deaths, which paid for the billboard, is calling on the city to arrest drug dealers and users and offer them either jail or treatment.
Even before its unveiling — and simultaneous social media campaign — the billboard already stirred controversy. Noah McGrath, who works in the city’s hotel industry, was worried the message may turn people off from visiting San Francisco "because it’s already dangerous here and we already have a problem here."
However, she admitted that the group has "a fair point. Fentanyl has kind of taken overtaken the city."
SF Travel, which works to promote tourism in the city, released a statement saying in response group's efforts, saying, "The tourism industry has been very vocal and active about the need to improve the situation on our street. This campaign doesn't punish the city. This campaign only hurts the small businesses that are struggling to recover from the damage caused by the pandemic."
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