>Now clearly mentally ill people - who needed help - were turned away unless they were clearly "a danger to themselves and others".

People talk as if this standard is the source of problems, but it's a fine standard. We just don't enforce it.

Eg, if a homeless drug addict overdoses and is brought back by the fire dept with narcan, this is clearly someone who is a danger to themselves. They should be treated no differently than someone rescued from a suicide attempt.

Fentanyl itself changes the imminent danger of being an opiate addict because there's no remotely safe way to use it. Any chronic user of Fentanyl is a danger to themselves.

Someone who is unable to maintain basic level of health on the street is the same. Do you have infected wounds festering? Teeth rotting out of your mouth? The government would take away a pet dog from someone in that state, but for a human doing it to themselves, no problem.