[kristofferR]

A lot of homeless people, perhaps the majority, use drugs as a consequence of not having a place to live.

Think about it, it's obviously much easier to use escapist drugs when you live on the streets. Not only do you want to escape, you are also surrounded by drugs and other misery.

You are thinking about it the opposite way. In reality, you can't get people to stop using drugs while keeping them on the streets.

[meowtimemania]

I think there needs to be some kind of sobriety requirement. Maybe put them through rehab, and then give them housing after they leave rehab.

I saw this tweet from the Y combinator ceo that says 25% of those in a permanent housing program in SF died. (I assume of overdose). Getting people housed shouldn’t be the priority, the priority is getting them drug free. https://twitter.com/garrytan/status/1659972231328583680?s=20

[kristofferR]

Read this article and I think you'll understand the issue better: https://www.sfchronicle.com/projects/2022/san-francisco-sros...

Just giving the homeless a moldy and bug infested tiny room without any additional help isn't going to help much. It's "housing first", not "housing only".

I don't think you understand addiction and rehab, frankly. Getting people to stop using drugs is quite easy, just keep them away from it for a while. You can send anyone to prison or rehab, and they'll stop using drugs for a while.

The hard part is getting people from restarting to use drugs once you let them free, and you can't even hope to do that successfully unless they are motivated themselves, which they won't be if they live on the street.

[boucher]

Do you know how effective rehab is for people who don’t go voluntarily?

The unfortunate reality of drug addiction is that even for people who want out it’s very hard. For people who don’t, it’s quite a lot harder. If there was a magic pill that cured addiction I think we might make different policy choices, but given that there isn’t I don’t see how your plan can really work.

[meowtimemania]

There aren’t any good solutions to this problem. IMO we should enforce existing laws around the possession of illegal substances. These drugs are a total drain on society. What message are we sending when we allow people to smoke fentanyl on the bart with no consequences?

[Clubber]

>I think there needs to be some kind of sobriety requirement. Maybe put them through rehab, and then give them housing after they leave rehab.

While I agree, there are many shelters that people don't use because they don't want to be sober, which defeats the purpose of reducing homelessness.

[meowtimemania]

If they possess illegal drugs, why not prosecute them and put them in the prison system? It’s bad to have people smoking fentanyl on the sidewalks as if it’s a normal part of society.