A way to reduce homeless drug problem in my area?

[maggie06]

The percentage of homeless people who are homeless by choice is vanishingly tiny.

Source: I'm involved with volunteering in my part of NC that is focused on that problem

That may be true in NC, but in California it is absolutely the opposite

 

[Hohn]

I'm struggling to understand how it's expected this will solve the problem

1. Remove a way for homeless people to get some money
2. ?????
3. Homeless problem solved!

I'm struggling to understand how this is not a political thread and instantly locked?

 

[Chris142]

That may be true in NC, but in California it is absolutely the opposite

There are people renting a room for more $$$ than my mortgage is.

 

[maggie06]

We last visited Portland in 2022.
I'd have to say that reports of its decrepitude are greatly overstated.
As compared to quite a few other large American cities, it's actually quite nice.
Yes, Portland has long tolerated the homeless, but they aren't typically obnoxious or aggressive, as they are in many cities that are intolerant of them.
Homelessness has various causes, with mental illness and addition being chief among them. The irony is that with proper treatment and medication, the seriously mentally ill can often function well in society and so can the addicted, to become job holding taxpaying citizens.
You want to reduce homelessness?
Put the resources needed into getting homeless people the help they need and watch homeless numbers dwindle.

Unfortunately more money is not the answer. The more money, the more corruption.

 

[Vil_Riker]

Having a homeless population is not normal. No one cares about the root causes, though.

 

[fdcg27]

Unfortunately more money is not the answer. The more money, the more corruption.

Okay, then what is the answer?

 

[maggie06]

Okay, then what is the answer?

That is certainly the billion dollar question. People a lot smarter than myself haven't figured it out yet.

Kinda like like leading a horse to water, if they're not thirsty, they won't drink. If an addict isn't ready to clean up, they won't. Mentally ill, I have no clue

 

[PandaBear]

I highly doubt that would help. Nobody sane would move away from Manhattan just because a soda can goes from 5c to 10c or the other way around.

The only way to get rid of drug problems is really, hate to say, dictatorship of some kind. Either we execute all dealers and smugglers or we execute all the addicts unless they kick the habit. I don't think that will be popular because they will be someone's family members.

We can kick those guys to another cities with creative solutions but you can't get rid of them completely, they just move there until the neighboring cities decided to retaliate with some mechanism to encourage them to go back to your cities.

Maybe the cheapest solution is gated communities, keep most residential and commercial area gated and you give those private property owners the right to get rid of addicts and dealers, confine them to near city halls and public areas.

I think so far US is the most lenient place I have been to about drugs. One coworker's brother got caught smuggling and he was only jailed for 10 years. In Singapore it would be automatic death penalty.

Problem is helping addicts is a big money to be made so that is why this problem is never solved and will never be solved.

 

[scoot]

We were seriously thinking about visiting Portland.

Last July we visited Seattle.

Downtown you will have plenty to choose from probably.

 

[BHopkins]

I'm struggling to understand how this is not a political thread and instantly locked?

Really? I haven't seen a single post in this thread that has even slightly drifted into being political.

 

[skyactiv]

It would help immensley if people wouldn't buy stolen goods, don't buy sex from hookers and don't give money to panhandlers.

 

[Dave Hess]

Downtown you will have plenty to choose from probably.

I will buy pepper spray when I get to Portland.

I took Pablo’s advice and bought pepper spray when I left Seattle Airport and visited the city.
Yes, some very sketchy areas and crack heads.

 

[Hohn]

Problem is helping addicts is a big money to be made so that is why this problem is never solved and will never be solved.

I believe that some problems exist because they are too lucrative to solve.

 

[scoot]

I will buy pepper spray when I get to Portland.

I took Pablo’s advice and bought pepper spray when I left Seattle Airport and visited the city.
Yes, some very sketchy areas and crack heads.

I meant to say plenty of hotel rooms to choose from , I'm sure there are decent places to go I would think .

 

[GON]

We last visited Portland in 2022.
I'd have to say that reports of its decrepitude are greatly overstated.
As compared to quite a few other large American cities, it's actually quite nice.
Yes, Portland has long tolerated the homeless, but they aren't typically obnoxious or aggressive, as they are in many cities that are intolerant of them.
Homelessness has various causes, with mental illness and addition being chief among them. The irony is that with proper treatment and medication, the seriously mentally ill can often function well in society and so can the addicted, to become job holding taxpaying citizens.
You want to reduce homelessness?
Put the resources needed into getting homeless people the help they need and watch homeless numbers dwindle.

Absolutley no way I would let my Wife drive to a Target and shop on a Tuesday afternoon in the greater Seattle, or greater Portland area.

I don't think people that don't live in the greater Seattle, or greater Portland know the risk to life and limb to innocent law abiding citizens in those areas.

 

[ragtoplvr]

Portland should privatize the entire city. Once the city becomes private property the homeless problem becomes a trespassing problem.

You want your taxes to go for more prisons where they will learn to cook and make connections to sell.

 

[IndyIan]

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/how-renfrew-county-solved-homelessness
Basically they linked the services available to help people who wanted help, so folks found it easier to get out of the situation they are in, because the got the right help at the right time. Lots of capable and decent people can get stuck in the rut of homelessness with a couple bad choices, or being prone to addiction, so giving them a safe place to stay and regroup, and a road map on how they can help themselves get back to being a contributing citizen seems to work for a lot of them.

 

[Pew]

I once got rid of rats in the barn by buying a metal trash can to keep my chicken feed in.

You only made them go somewhere else. Real solution is to get a owl. Cause owls are cool. And hungry.

 

[ripcord]

Drug and alcohol addicted people would do far better with proper rehab and vocational training than putting them in jail. Other countries have great success with preventing repeat offenders by offering people like that and other low-level offenders not only proper rehab and treating them like human beings, but offering great vocational training so when they leave they can actually go enter the workforce.

I hear this all the time but never see any concrete examples. They used to claim Portugal had their drug and alcohol problems all figured out with their legalization and treatment programs, but it turned out to be a fraud and were completely faking the statistics to make things look successful.

 

[wavinwayne]

You only made them go somewhere else. Real solution is to get a owl. Cause owls are cool. And hungry.

Ferrets are good hunters of rats, too.