Tragic tale of former foster child aged just 19 who's hooked on fentanyl in San Francisco - Daily Mail

A 19-year-old former foster child is caught in the grip of a fentanyl addiction after being moved to a San Francisco halfway-house beside an open-air drug camp.

But addicts smoke fentanyl and other drugs just feet away from its door unimpeded, providing Noah with immediate access to the ultra-powerful painkiller he says he is desperate to quit.

He was seen hobbling across the street on crutches to talk to citizen journalist JJ Smith, but said he was too afraid to seek hospital treatment for the car accident which injured him .

Asked about his drug habit by local citizen journalist JJ Smith, the soft-spoken teenager said: 'I usually smoke fentanyl or weed.'.

The liberal California city recently closed its infamous open-air drug market, the Tenderloin Linkage Center.

It opened just 10 months ago, cost $22 million of taxpayer cash, and was accused of exacerbating the very issue it had been set up to treat by turning the piazza next to San Francisco City Hall into a huge narcotic free-for-all.   .

A third video, shared earlier this week, shows Noah hobbling across the street to chat to JJ after being struck by a car.

A third video, shared earlier this week, shows Noah hobbling across the street to chat to JJ after being struck by a car.

When asked if he wanted to stop using drugs, Noah is dismissive and says: 'I'm just tired of my leg hurting'.

When asked if he wanted to stop using drugs, Noah is dismissive and says: 'I'm just tired of my leg hurting.'.

Then, Smith tells Noah: 'I've found some people that's really ready to help you out.'.

Sounding optimistic, Noah asks: 'Really?' He then says that he would be willing to look into getting help. .

He says while appearing to lose consciousness: 'I'm just kinda bored.' 

One of Smith's videos got the attention of the San Francisco Police Department who retweeted the video showing Noah with a leg injury

Smith told DailyMail.com: 'He was hooked on Fentanyl before the camp was outside his door, but here in San Francisco the area he lives in the drug is very accessible so he can walk to the corner from his house to the middle of the black and buy it from anyone.' He says the permissive attitude of San Francisco is partly to blame for Noah's woes. 

The RISE drug sobering center opened in June in the city with the help of Democratic San Francisco Mayor London Breed, who characterized it as a safe haven for addicts looking to get back on their feet

In October, Breed pledged for the second time in a year Wednesday to crack down on open-air opioid drug sales and rampant public drug use that she says is destroying the city. 

San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott said officers began ramping up arrests for drug dealing in June, and since then have issued more than 350 citations to people using drugs in public.