“They’re using it like a weapon,” said Kenneth Byrd, who is homeless and addicted to fentanyl.
“People are going around doing it just for kicks,” Byrd said. “It’s f—ked up.”
“I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy,” said Henry Jones, a homeless man who said he was jolted awake this year by someone spraying Narcan into his nose.
“I’ve been shot seven times, and being Narcan’d like that was worse,” Jones said.
Word of the attacks has spread fear through San Francisco’s homeless community, even as online commenters cheer the tactic as vigilante justice.
A viral Instagram video, viewed more than 4 million times since July 9, shows a man brandishing Narcan to force a drug user off a Tenderloin sidewalk. The clip is captioned “best way to get somebody up in San Francisco.”
“Here, hand me the Narcan, he needs the Narcan, give him the Narcan,” the cameraman shouts as he confronts a man slumped on drugs. The user springs to his feet and walks away.
“Yeah, you better get your ass up,” the cameraman yells. “You ain’t about to die out here.”
The video has racked up 190,000 likes and nearly 2,000 comments, with many praising the tactic.
“The new strategy for moving bums out of your way,” one wrote.
“Bro just solved the opiate crisis,” another said.