I have been dealing with a close friend with the problem for the last 20 years. She started drinking around 12, the mental illnesses kicked in in her early 20's.She is reasonably normal after she has been in the jail or mental hospital for weeks and they force her to take her meds.
Inevitably, she is released. Usually to some half-way house or other unsupervised shithole with other unfortunate souls with similar mental issues.
And the cycle starts all over again - for the last 20 years. ,p>In California, there is a law that eliminated the ability of Judges or other medical professionals to have these people committed to a lock down facility. I'm sorry, but that is what they need to have the slightest chance at normalcy. The law is the LPS Act - Lanterman-Petris-Short - signed during R.Reagan's first term when the theory was to empty the so-called "Loonie Bins" and "Snake Pits" and integrate these people into the local towns and cities. And all that before meth and the like entered the picture. Now it is 100X worse. California needs to repeal the LPS Act, build a new series of supervised facilities and allow the local authorities to get these people off the streets and into a facility where they are forced to take their medicine. The other states with similar laws need to repeal those as well.
These people have the emotional maturity of 12 year olds - at best, and yet, our society is allowing children in adult bodies to roam and cause chaos at will. No sane person would allow their child free reign in their town. Nor should we allow these adults, in age only, the freedom wreak havoc with no thought of the consequences of their actions.
This sounds harsh and totalitarian, but allowing them to self-medicate with alcohol and meth, as we have for the last 50 years, has resulted in a disastrous harvest for them, their families and those that unconditionally love them.
Couldn’t agree more. I’m in Seattle area and (well before Covid) would see this every day. Now with the working from home I’m away from downtown but all I know is - however bad it was before the pandemic and chop/chaz started - it’s many times worse now.
One day when I was downtown it sort of struck me - what we have are massive outdoor lunatic asylums. Drugs, Mental Illness usually both operating together (as you say).
The liberal fairy tales about how these are “normal” people who are just “down on their luck” and how “you and I are one missed paycheck away from being in the same boat” are just that - fairy tales.
For these people to have any chance at all they need the institutional structure that no shelter or halfway house or revolving door treatment center is ever going to provide.
Their second best choice is jail but of course now we’re emptying the jails not filling them.
DEA is making drug problem worse. More ODs than ever. Police are horrible at solving moral and medical problems.
DEA is super corrupt.
Let states decide on drug policy and crime.