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0 pointsecf2y ago0 comments

I don’t have any evidence to back this feeling up so take it with a grain of salt: San Francisco has a drug problem simply because it’s one of few places in the country where it’s safe to have a drug problem. Other states pay for addicts/homeless to be shipped off to California and all of a sudden it becomes our taxpayer problem.

If drugs were legalized country-wide then SF wouldn’t have the concentration it does and it would seem like a nice place.

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Hermitian9092y ago

> Other states pay for addicts/homeless to be shipped off to California

This has happened but it's not substantial, most homeless in CA were living here and homed before becoming homeless[0]

> San Francisco has a drug problem simply because it’s one of few places in the country where it’s safe to have a drug problem

I've spent a lot of time volunteering with the homeless in SF. This doesn't match the data or anecdotal experience. Many drug addicts follow the path of becoming homeless (overwhelmingly because of cost of living) and transitioning into hard drugs to cope with the pain of living on the street.

[0] https://homelessness.ucsf.edu/our-impact/our-studies/califor...

burkaman2y ago

This is a common theory but it isn't true. There are a lot of homeless people in San Fransisco because there are a lot of people there and it's hard to afford a home.

From a huge recent survey of homelessness in California:

> Nine out of ten participants lost their last housing in California; 75% of participants lived in the same county as their last housing.

https://homelessness.ucsf.edu/sites/default/files/2023-06/CA...

cyberax2y ago

This data is st00pid. It relies on self-reporting, and the questions are coached to get the "required" result.

A while ago I did an experiment, I found the list of people convicted for typical "homeless" crimes in SF, and did a background search on them. About 90% had extensive crime records in other states, far away from CA.

This is not a definitive result for sure, but it's suggestive.

coding1232y ago

Either you are lying or the mainstream media is lying. I am not having ANY luck with mainstream media, but I can't just trust you either. Show me your data.

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nvrmnd2y ago

My understanding is that "living in the same county as your last housing" can mean that you moved to California with enough money to rent a room for a month before running out. Though, I have seen many other surveys that do indicate that most unhoused individuals have lived in the area for an extended period before factors forced them out (https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/06/us/homeless-population.ht...).

In any event, I feel that metric used by UCSF is really not a good one to the point where it's almost dishonest. It's not hard to come up with questions that do a better job at trying to answer whether CA is burdened by individuals moving from out-of-state to make use of more generous social programs and/or lax drug policy.

2OEH8eoCRo02y ago

> If drugs were legalized country-wide

No thank you. I don't want to catch what SF has. I'll vote against anyone who suggests we need to legalize in my area.

anon848736282y ago

Then make sure you also vote for the people who want to build more housing.

2OEH8eoCRo02y ago

More single family homes? Sure. Low income housing? Nah

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Hermitian9092y ago

> Other states pay for addicts/homeless to be shipped off to California

This has happened but it's not substantial, most homeless in CA were living here and homed before becoming homeless[0]

> San Francisco has a drug problem simply because it’s one of few places in the country where it’s safe to have a drug problem

[0] https://homelessness.ucsf.edu/our-impact/our-studies/califor...

burkaman2y ago

This is a common theory but it isn't true. There are a lot of homeless people in San Fransisco because there are a lot of people there and it's hard to afford a home.

From a huge recent survey of homelessness in California:

> Nine out of ten participants lost their last housing in California; 75% of participants lived in the same county as their last housing.

https://homelessness.ucsf.edu/sites/default/files/2023-06/CA...

cyberax2y ago

This data is st00pid. It relies on self-reporting, and the questions are coached to get the "required" result.

This is not a definitive result for sure, but it's suggestive.

coding1232y ago

Either you are lying or the mainstream media is lying. I am not having ANY luck with mainstream media, but I can't just trust you either. Show me your data.

1 more reply

nvrmnd2y ago

2OEH8eoCRo02y ago

> If drugs were legalized country-wide

No thank you. I don't want to catch what SF has. I'll vote against anyone who suggests we need to legalize in my area.

anon848736282y ago

Then make sure you also vote for the people who want to build more housing.

2OEH8eoCRo02y ago

More single family homes? Sure. Low income housing? Nah

2 more replies

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse