Re: drug abuse among the homeless

On Sun, 30 Nov 2003 23:34:22 -0500, Brother Nate
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 

>Adam Meadows wrote:
>> How do we help these people?  
>
>Personally I think the retired nurse quoted in the story
>was right.  Real rehab, even if it's nothing more than a
>place that these people can go to remind themselves that
>they don't have to "f--k up".
>
>I was struck by the ambition of Little Bit Susan to get
>off drugs "someday".  The fact that most of these people
>would relapse afterwards wouldn't detract from the fact
>that any time they spent in a program would be time with
>a roof over their head, 3 square meals a day, and at least
>a shred of hope that they might get back on their feet
>someday.
>
>Drugs clearly aren't the only reason why those people are
>there on that island, but it's a big enough part of the
>puzzle to convince me that drug abuse issues don't just
>go away if the drugs abused are legal (i.e.- the death
>of Randy, the wheelchair-bound alcoholic).

Although alcohol addiction is more likely to lead to death than chronic
marijuana use or an opiate addiction in which the supply is of a known
dosage and purity.

Of course there would still be drug abuse issues, but they would be more
easily dealt with.