I actually had some lib tell me that the reason homeless do drugs is because they are homeless. Crazy ass bitch had never even talked to some of them in our area and I had. They told me they all lost their homes because of drugs. When I corrected her she gave me a death stare.
Tough love does not work on these people. You can only help them out a little by giving them food, blankets or clothing but don’t enable them by given them any money that can be spent on drugs. They will either get help when they are ready or they will die.
No doubt some people become substance dependent because of homelessness, but it’s hard to pin down statistics and causation. One big problem is that all the studies depend on self-reporting. My own personal experience with homeless people I have encountered is that substance abuse and mental illness are prevalent. It’s difficult for the homeless to get the medical and psychiatric care they need. Some people say that we need more shelters. One young woman I met on the streets said that a shelter was the worst place, because of the risk of assault and theft. (She was paranoid or schizophrenic, I believe. But highly intelligent.)
>> You can only help them out a little by giving them food, blankets or clothing but don’t enable them by given them any money that can be spent on drugs. They will either get help when they are ready or they will die.
Good advice, that.