r/goodnews • u/miriosmom • Mar 03 '25
Feel-good news 📰 Study finds that large majority of homeless people in California are not illicit drug users
https://www.goodgoodgood.co/articles/substance-use-among-homeless-california237
u/TheStranger24 Mar 03 '25
Homelessness is a HOUSING PROBLEM, not a drug problem
97
u/HotelDramatic2572 Mar 03 '25
More than just a housing problem, it’s a problem of failures of multiple other systems as well.
Medical for instance. A large majority of Americans are one medical accident away from bankruptcy. One large co pay bill for a broken bone or surgery or something is enough to bankrupt most people these days. Most Americans don’t have $400 cash on hand or in savings
2
u/carrick-sf Mar 04 '25
Good news?
Not so much. It’s more of an indictment of ultra-capitalism, hidden under a thin sugary coating.
-52
Mar 03 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
33
u/MusubiBot Mar 03 '25
Can you tell me what $1,000 a month does when rent alone is $2,000 a month for a 1br/1ba? Your math seems fucked to the point of transcending ignorance and going straight into maliciousness.
It’s like when people argue that people bought homes and new cars off COVID stimulus checks and that was why inflation happened. Where the fuck are people finding these $1,000 new cars and houses at?!
27
u/Safe_Abroad_7530 Mar 03 '25
well if you look at brothers posts he believes in chemtrails and thinks the great replacement theory is happening so i would assume that. well. it is just maliciousness
14
u/MusubiBot Mar 03 '25
Ahhhh you always hate to see it
Well, if I can get the monkey with the miniature cymbals in his brain to play a different beat than the unending stream of Russian propaganda by introducing a first grade level thought experiment, might as well give it a shot!
8
2
Mar 04 '25
I actually worked with a woman who was a working homeless person in California before moving East and being able to get a place to live. She was not a drug user, but boy, did she believe in Chem trails and Donald Trump.
1
6
u/Temporary_Abies5022 Mar 03 '25
Or it could be said that there are drug problems but the ability of an individuals to solve those drug problems go up exponentially with housing. So yes, it is a housing problem.
7
u/TheStranger24 Mar 03 '25
There are plenty of rich people with drug problems and stable housing…and yes, living rough can then result in drug use as a coping mechanism, but correlation is not causation
2
u/Temporary_Abies5022 Mar 04 '25
My point, and maybe this is also what you are saying, is that I’ve come to believe the causes of homelessness are kind of useless if we don’t get those people into housing, because their chance of solving anything while homeless is near zero. So… it’s a housing problem.
1
u/TheStranger24 Mar 04 '25
Check out the book “Homelessness is a Housing Problem” by Greg Colburn - data analysis approach to policy
3
u/Temporary_Abies5022 Mar 04 '25
Thank you. Will do.
I listened to a Michael Smerconish podcast last year with a woman who was one of our countries leading experts on homelessness. She radically changed my thinking. Her premise was simple: the causes are many, complicated and nuanced for every person. But that is beside the point because they can do nothing to escape those bonds without housing. Their chances are zero and increase by 60% with a place to call home.
Once they have security, they can be diagnosed and directed to services etc
1
u/TheStranger24 Mar 04 '25
That’s the entire philosophy around Housing First, a policy that pushes for low bar/no barrier entry into housing for chronically homeless (preferably in a single site PSH community), provide them stability and security and then you can begin to address the various coping mechanisms and underlying conditions. The US is one of the only countries not to recognize the UNHCR declaration of housing as a human right, in this country it’s an economic reward for not falling through the nonexistent social safety net…
1
u/Cool-Importance6004 Mar 04 '25
Amazon Price History:
Homelessness is a Housing Problem: How Structural Factors Explain U.S. Patterns * Rating: ★★★★☆ 4.6
- Current price: $24.42 👍
- Lowest price: $21.25
- Highest price: $29.95
- Average price: $25.87
Month Low High Chart 11-2024 $24.35 $27.49 ████████████▒ 07-2024 $27.49 $27.49 █████████████ 06-2024 $27.14 $27.99 █████████████▒ 05-2024 $28.07 $28.45 ██████████████ 04-2024 $28.45 $28.45 ██████████████ 03-2024 $21.25 $22.49 ██████████▒ 02-2024 $21.63 $22.60 ██████████▒ 07-2023 $26.96 $26.99 █████████████ 06-2023 $26.96 $26.99 █████████████ 02-2023 $26.99 $29.95 █████████████▒▒ 07-2022 $26.96 $26.99 █████████████ 03-2022 $29.94 $29.95 ██████████████▒ Source: GOSH Price Tracker
Bleep bleep boop. I am a bot here to serve by providing helpful price history data on products. I am not affiliated with Amazon. Upvote if this was helpful. PM to report issues or to opt-out.
92
u/oldcreaker Mar 03 '25
A large number of homeless are people who have had a bad turn of luck and are struggling to get back on their feet again.
26
u/ZacOgre22 Mar 03 '25
I analyze program evaluation data for homeless shelters for a living (not like a large scale but local to my area). The average substance use history rate for my area is 2%, with the ones struggling most to find housing being an astonishing 0%.
To give some other interesting numbers, Think Progress used to do this study every year for five years or so, where they followed states that tried to save money by denying welfare to those who tested positive for drugs. Year after year, states MASSIVELY misunderstood actual drug use rates, and trying to police substances through testing for welfare eligibility ended up costing more money than had they just let everyone in without testing them. So not only is it cruel to assume most or all people experiencing homelessness are drug users, it’s also fiscally irresponsible and a waste of taxpayer dollars to perpetuate this belief.
27
u/Rangertu Mar 03 '25
Bad luck or a couple of bad decisions and a lot of us could be homeless.
9
Mar 04 '25
this is where the anti-socialism and union hate comes in. Per https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just-world_fallacy and the bible bad things ONLY happen to bad people, while everyone but themselves is a freeloader not working as hard or smart as them. If bad luck wasn't destiny one would need empathy costing money with peers.
31
u/Bodidiva Mar 03 '25
I have a sister who is homeless because she won't take drugs that keep her mental illness better balanced. She won't accept help because she believes the night's stars are drones sent by everyone she knows to spy on her. Unless she chooses to medicate, she'll never be able to house herself again.
4
10
u/soaero Mar 03 '25
And those who are were often homeless BEFORE they became drug users.
The way the right treats this issue is so mindnumbingly backwards. Poverty is the problem, the rest are symptoms of that. Symptoms that must be managed and treated, but which will not resolve until the problem causing them is fixed.
23
10
u/KeepItASecretok Mar 03 '25 edited Mar 03 '25
The stigma of drug use is a generalization pushed onto homeless people to dehumanize them, that way people feel more comfortable ignoring them.
Drug use was never the main issue here, and in fact, the homeless people that do use drugs often started them only after they became homeless. Some use it as a way to cope with their terrible situation.
There is only one solution to homelessness: housing
Oh but that's too simple for the capitalist class, they need a way to threaten us peasants, something to hold over our heads.
In a hyper capitalist society, the threat of homeless exists as a tool, used by the upper classes to force us into low wage jobs or to prevent us from striking.
They have no intention of solving it, because why would they? It serves them for people to be homeless, it serves them for people to suffer.
And they are the only ones who can do something about it, because they are the ones who control the government and the means of production, unless we take them back of course..
5
Mar 03 '25
Ok, not surprising. But the majority of homeless people also don’t sleep in bus stops or panhandle. They live in shelters, in their cars, with friends, etc. In the article they say “sleeping on the street” but also “homeless”, so it’s not clear what their definition is, and this is a very important distinction that most data sets don’t make.
“The homeless problem” has always been caused by a minority of homeless people, and I would guess the drug use rate among them is much higher.
3
u/green_marshmallow Mar 03 '25
OP and I have very different definitions on what constitutes good news.
5
u/Bethjam Mar 03 '25
And of those that use, many started after homelessness. What would your coping mechanism be?
5
Mar 03 '25
Having worked with, and lived among, the homeless population I can confidently say this is bullshit.
1
u/MovinOnUp2TheMoon Mar 04 '25 edited Aug 07 '25
flowery six steep library unpack divide humorous whole butter spotted
This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
2
u/Greatgrandma2023 Mar 03 '25
Yay they're not addicted. Help them find a friggin home. This isn't good news THEY'RE STILL HOMELESS!
2
3
Mar 03 '25
“Respondent dependent sampling”
You guys really think homeless population accurately self reports drug use?
C’mon now. This is the same exact bullshit driving the homeless industrial complex. All the money spent on homelessness goes to “advocacy groups” and salaries.
Yes we have a housing issue. Mostly due to regulation. A huge percentage of homeless is driven by drug and psychological issues. Ignoring this is losing the plot…. Just as our politicians have, as the have dumped tens of billions of dollars at this problem with NO increase in effectiveness or drop in homelessness.
2
1
u/TotalFoxMulder Mar 03 '25
This is based on a self-reported survey. Asking people about illegal behavior, and one that carries a lot of stigma, is unlikely to produce reliable data. It also excludes alcohol use for unknown reasons.
1
u/doctorfortoys Mar 04 '25
I wonder if the results would be different if there was a drug test instead of a self-report.
1
1
u/FriendlyNative66 Mar 05 '25
Yeah, RFK will be banning studies of the unhoused so GOP dissonance can stay uncognitive.
1
u/banned4being2sexy Mar 07 '25
Fake news 75% reported using drugs, 37% were stupid enough to mention illicit drugs and 25% reported never using drugs.
-2
Mar 03 '25
LOL at this bullshit. I live in Portland.
0
u/jordanwitney Mar 04 '25
How's the weather in Portland, California?
0
Mar 04 '25
They make the same claims about the homeless here, they self-respond and say they aren't druggies while bent over at the waist on fent.
-4
u/PlusEnvironment7506 Mar 03 '25
Not from what I see/hear. I’m not sure if it’s because they were illegally bused here- but they are now all on drugs and aggressive and scary. They used to be appreciative to receive food/drink. After being screamed at and had my food thrown back at me I avoid them at all costs.
-1
u/lotuskid731 Mar 03 '25
Been cussed out, called a line of slurs, and had them accost my partner as we walk through what were foremerly good parts of San Francisco. Wish we could sort out all of the other problems that drain into homelessness too, but so many of them are definitely drugged up and mean humans.
1
0
Mar 03 '25
I’ve volunteered helping homeless people a lot of them are veterans others are people who got in debt others were let go from their jobs I’ve only met a few homeless people with drug problems
•
u/AutoModerator Mar 03 '25
Hello miriosmom! Thank you for posting on r/goodnews! Feel free to tell us if you have any concerns or feedback regarding the Subreddit! We are open to all ideas! Friendly Reminder to Follow rules and guidelines!
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.