Welsh billionaire Michael Moritz criticised over anti-drug posters

by usa news24 BBC News A Welsh billionaire has been criticised over a "misguided" poster campaign aimed at heavier enforcement of laws against drug users and dealers on the streets of San Francisco. Michael Moritz is a funder of Together SF, whose poster campaign called for an end to open-air drug markets and more city-sponsored recovery programmes. The posters were graffitied and some have labelled the campaign "misguided". Sir Michael and Together SF have been contacted for comment. Sir Michael was born in Cardiff and moved to the States after graduating from Oxford in 1974. He made his fortune after investing in tech start ups such as Google and PayPal. Some online have claimed the Together San Francisco project was "shaming" drug and Narcan (a brand of anti-opiate drug naloxone) use and calling for the "criminalisation of poor people". The alleged graffiti artists wrote: "Under the cover of night, with the Frisco fog as our accomplice, a crew of friends vandalised over 10 of the right-wing, pro-police 'Fentalyfe' street poster installations." The anonymous blog posters claimed they painted messages such as "Narcan saves lives", "cops kill people" and a message against Mr Moritz. In February, Sir Michael wrote an article for the Financial Times saying San Francisco "bans plastic straws but permits plastic needles". He also claimed the Californian city saw more deaths from drugs than Covid between 2020 and 2022 and said any attempt to combat the city's problems would be "fruitless" without handling drug problems. Man arrested for opening hard drugs store in Canada US gallery owner who hosed homeless woman arrested Profile: Michael Moritz Sir Michael also wrote that the drug fentanyl - a synthetic opioid 50 times more powerful than heroin - had turned many of the blocks of the city into "zombie zones". "Beyond the shocking waste of potential, the drug use and homeless tents consume an enormous part of San Francisco's annual $13.95bn (£11.1bn) budget," he said. "Direct city spending on homelessness has risen from about $200m (£160m) for the fiscal year 2016 to $680m (£543m) this year."