[aminok]

"People who in any other nation would be taken care of."

The US actually spends far more than almost any other country in the world on programs for the poor. In many of the countries with less homelessness/drug-addiction, there is very little social welfare spending, and drug addicts are enrolled into compulsory treatment programs, something that has been deemed a human rights violation in the US.

Government in Thailand for example spends FAR less on social welfare programs than government in the US, but it has compulsory treatment.