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Yes, a shelter program that does not adress addicts (and keeping them out does not count as "addressing") is in fact designed to fail.
by brazzy 5y ago
Yes, a shelter program that does not adress addicts (and keeping them out does not count as "addressing") is in fact designed to fail.
- seanmcdirmid 5y agoOr designed to handle homeless cases not related to addiction. That the arguments “Not all homeless are drug addicts and/or mentally ill” and “homeless services not designed to deal with drug addiction and/or mental illness will fail” are often located close to each other annoys me. There is plenty of low hanging fruit to be had in dealing with the easier homeless cases. While we shouldn’t ignore the harder cases, it’s no excuse for waiting to pick that low hanging fruit.
- zdragnar 5y agoThe problem is, you cannot (legally) force addicts to stop (in the US). They either accept the help, or they don't. Some do, many more do not.
- xyzzyz 5y agoYou can, at least for some drugs: in many places, possession of drugs is a criminal offense, carrying jail term. However, it is commonly understood today that jailing addicts so that they can recover in controlled setting is inhumane, as opposed to letting them overdose under the bridge.
- brazzy 5y agoNote that that is only a problem as long as you consider addicts consuming drugs in government-provided shelters a worse problem than addicts consuming drugs on the streets.