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0 pointsgamblor9563mo ago0 comments

You're welcome to walk yourself down to Skid Row or your nearest homeless camp and conduct a detailed survey if you want the specifics. Or, a simple Google search will provide several studies including demographic details.

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pseudalopex3mo ago

> You're welcome to walk yourself down to Skid Row or your nearest homeless camp and conduct a detailed survey if you want the specifics.

What country is the subject of this discussion? I assumed the US because the article was about Oregon. Most homeless people in the US do not live in camps.[1]

> Or, a simple Google search will provide several studies including demographic details.

Simple searches found researchers couldn't agree how many homeless people used drugs. Never mind abused. Never mind abused before becoming homeless. Never mind became homeless because they abused drugs.

Simple searches found citations for the claim substance abused caused most homelessness failed to support the claim. A survey cited frequently asked mayors what they thought were the top causes of homelessness in their cities.

Simple searches found studies which said homelessness was economic primarily.

[1] https://aibm.org/research/homelessness-in-the-united-states/

gamblor956OP3mo ago

There are two very different types of homeless. The invisible homeless are the ones who are homeless for economic reasons; they live in RVs, cars, or shelters and generally try to hide their homelessness. They rarely use drugs or alcohol.

The visible homeless are heavy drug users. In LA, over 90% of the visible homeless are drug addicts. The same is true in San Diego and the SF Bay Area. In LA, LAHSA likes to goose the statistics to to include the economic homeless, but the economic homeless don't use LAHSA's services because LAHSA exclusively services the drug users (because their funding is based on long term placements, which the economic homeless do not need).

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