That's the way some politicians/media try to spin it, but it's not the whole story.
Many homeless don't have mental health and substance abuse issues, but are just forced out of their homes on debt, etc. And of course some develop mental health (and sometimes substance abuse issues) after living homeless.
Not all homeless are homeless because of mental health or substance abuse issues, but those that are homeless for other reasons are more likely to get help so you don’t notice them as much.
Mental health and substance abuse issues don't spontaneously emerge on their own. Lack of money, housing, personal life, etc. are huge contributing causes.
Mental health / substance can cause homelessness. Homelessness can cause mental health / substance. It’s a shit cycle either way, but the one certainty is we are not addressing either in a meaningful way.
Claiming there are no fundamental material/economic problems, such as with housing, and pretending homeless people are just a lost cause of mentally ill substance abusers is certainly not going to solve any problems, except maybe putting your conscience at ease. Housing is not the only problem, but there are fundamental material issues which greatly increase the chance of mental illness and substance abuse.
This was mostly during the vietnam era the government has been better about that but doctors freely prescribing drugs that destroy lives is a much bigger issue. Pooling data from 2002 to 2012, the incidence of heroin initiation was 19 times higher among those who reported prior nonmedical pain reliever use than among those who did not. A survey by the United States Conference of Mayors found that 68 percent of cities reported that substance abuse was the largest cause of homelessness for single adults. Substance abuse was also reported as one of the top three causes of family homelessness by 12 percent of cities.
In fact in seattle, King County, sued
PURDUE PHARMA, L.P.; PURDUE
PHARMA, INC.; THE PURDUE FREDERICK
COMPANY, INC.; ENDO HEALTH
SOLUTIONS INC.; ENDO
PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.; JANSSEN
PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.; JOHNSON &
JOHNSON; SEATTLE PAIN CENTER
MEDICAL CORPORATION d/b/a SEATTLE
PAIN CENTER; FRANK D. LI; SALES
REPRESENTATIVES JOHN.
This is where it starts, as much as it would be great to turn this into a debate about the US military these pharmaceutical companies and Holy Prestigious Doctors are far and away the major cause of these issues.
It's not an either/or. It's often both. 11% of the homeless population is US military veterans [1], often returning home with undiagnosed or untreated mental illnesses. They're failed by our healthcare system (same as opioid abusers) and sent out onto the streets. I'm sure there is significant overlap with prescription drug abuse and homeless veterans as well.
Heroin can't be prescribed in the US, but if it could, or if other opioids could be prescribed for addiction rather than just physical pain, it would help immensely. If it was supervised, it would end overdoses, needles on the ground, and a ton of other needless suffering and death. The addicts might even decide to wean off with help, get jobs, and start leading normal lives. That's what's happened in places that have tried this, including southern California before prohibition. Of course with people advocating for solutions that have been proven now for over a hundred years not to work like yours, we won't be solving this problem anytime soon. Of course, when most people can't be bothered to think or research, they'll just spew out this type of uneducated, stupid bullshit because that's what everyone else is doing. And that feels good. All the while their neighbors are dying or sent to jail so that people can feel righteous in their stupidity.
