A newly resurfaced video from San Francisco showed the frightening, zombie-like state of drug addicts in the once-shining downtown portion of the City by the Bay.

However, the man who posted the video said Friday the footage is not recent.

JJ Smith wrote on X that the clip “was filmed between September and December” and was reposted “just to bring attention and awareness to that area becuase it’s still looking the same way.”

In the clip posted on X, rows and rows of humans are drugged out, covered in filth, and frozen in strange positions. The video was taken on 7th and Market Street in the area known as the Tenderloin neighborhood. 

It was initially unclear when it was shot, though Smith — a longtime resident of the area — posted it Thursday from the epicenter of the city’s drug and homelessness crisis before later clarifying it was filmed months earlier.

However, the San Francisco Police Department told The California Post it believes the video is from a number of years ago.

“For context, since we increased our drug enforcement efforts in June 2023, SFPD has made over 14,392 arrests and we’ve seized over 1,259 pounds of narcotics,” director of strategic communications Evan Sernoffsky said. “The city looks vastly different than when this video was taken.”

At one point, the drugged-out humans begin to sway and move a bit, as Smith tells one of them to pull their pants up.

Drug use can be seen throughout the clip, with one person holding a glass pipe, stating that they were using fentanyl and crystal to get high.

Smith also spoke to one of the people who said they were from Sacramento and came to SF because “the dope is cheaper” and better there.

People on social media reacted to the clip and said it looked like “the start of the apocalypse.”

“Why do we let tweakers litter the streets of what used to be one of the nicest cities in America?” one person wrote.

“Billions are stolen from California taxpayers and problem still not solved. Voters, you need to pay attention.”

Another person added, “This isn’t compassion. This is a city government knowingly allowing people to waste away under a drug induced coma. People deserve so much better but better choices need to be made at the ballot box.”

The city continues to grapple with a staggering number of fatal drug overdoses. The latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data put the city second on the list, trailing behind only Baltimore.

Even as the opioid crisis drags on, federal figures show a modest shift: Overall overdose deaths in San Francisco have begun to decline.

In 2025, fatalities fell to their lowest level in five years. Still, the city remains near the top nationally in per-capita overdose deaths.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors member for the downtown area, Matt Dorsey, has acknowledged the grim state of the city.

“What we are seeing right now is other counties are improving faster than San Francisco is,” Dorsey told ABC7.

“What I’m hoping is that we have to do everything we can to turn off the magnet and stop being a destination city for drug-related lawlessness.”

Smith — a San Francisco street videographer who captured viral footage exposing alleged ballot petition fraud — is known for documenting daily life in the city’s seedier areas.

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