San Franciscans with addiction problems who receive cash assistance would have to undergo treatment to continue receiving payments under a new proposal from Mayor London Breed.

The proposal, which requires approval by the Board of Supervisors, would require people who apply for County Adult Assistance Programs to undergo screening for substance use disorder and to participate in a treatment program if they are found to have an addiction, according to a statement Breed sent out Tuesday.

“We fund a wide range of services, and we want to help people get the care they need but under current state law, local government lack tools to compel people into treatment,” Breed said. “This initiative aims to create more accountability and help get people to accept the treatment and services they need.”

People who refuse or who “do not successfully engage in treatment” would not be eligible for cash assistance.

Supervisors Catherine Stefani, Raphael Mandelman and Matt Dorsey all voiced support for the proposal, according to Breed’s announcement.

Board of Supervisors president Aaron Peskin, however, released a statement Tuesday saying Breed should focus on stopping dealers and open-air drug markets rather than “drug testing people on welfare.”

“If she can’t find the way to prevent several hundred brazen criminals from selling deadly drugs — how does she think she will find the resources to drug test thousands of welfare recipients?” Peskin said in a news release.

Kiley Russell writes primarily for Local News Matters on issues related to equity and the environment. A Bay Area native, he has lived most of his life in Oakland. He studied journalism at San Francisco State University, worked for the Associated Press and the former Contra Costa Times, among other outlets. He has covered everything from state legislatures, local governments, federal and state courts, crime, growth and development, political campaigns of various stripes, wildfires and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.