Yes. I actually knew and frequently talked with many of the homeless people who lived near me when I lived in downtown SF. The thing is that opiates are natural

Yes. I actually knew and frequently talked with many of the homeless people who lived near me when I lived in downtown SF. The thing is that opiates are naturally cheap, and most of the current cost comes from heavy regulation. If an addict can be high all day for a quarter the cost of a meal, say $1, and can purchase said from a safe, reputable drug store in their chosen location, rather than trekking across town to a shady area to buy illegal drugs from a outlaw dealer, they’ll do that. If only because they can spend more time begging and less time walking. You have a very skewed view of addicts if you think they are that deranged. A good illustration of that is clean needle programs that provide orange safety tips for used needles. If these addicts were so completely deranged, those tips would end up in the trash not on the ends of needles in the streets.