Let me be contrarian, and say that this is good news! I hope a million junkies die this year! Two million dead junkies would be even better! These are mostly worthless people, and we are better off without them. Getting rid of the drug consumer, is one way to win the War on Drugs.
I think of druggies as the same as consumers of kiddie porn. Not victims, but the drivers of the vice. How kewl is it to get them to “off” themselves!
I understand what you are saying, but these are people’s children, siblings, spouses, and parents. It would be hard for me to accept that one of my children was in such a situation and would be heart-breaking.
However, as most of us realize, these people didn’t wake up one day and decide to head to the streets to live a life of waiting for the next fix. They exasperated the patience of every family member, until they were kicked out of the house, or the indulgence of every friend until they were kicked out of the spare room or off their sofa. Many family members have already spent thousands on treatment programs and “bail-outs”. They reached the point they are at by small steps.
Many of them could be brought back by the same small steps, first by stopping enabling them with our tax-dollars. That money could be used for initial detox treatment, even if involuntary (now, it is mostly voluntary, and once the withdrawals kick in, they walk out). Next, by no nonsense treatment in a controlled atmosphere (without the do-gooders), and then by relocation to an area where they would still be monitored and do not know the local drug dealers, and where hard work is the only thing on their schedule. I suspect such a program could save one in ten of the recently arrived street people. Those that have been their for years will probably die on the street corner.
When we as a society decided to coddle the drug addicted and listen to them about what they needed, we did them no favors.