Drug Addiction And Drug Abuse, Crime, And Homelessness

​Homelessness and substance abuse are often two problems that continue to be linked together. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (2011), research conducted in the past five years indicates that about 50% of those who are homeless have co-occurring substance abuse problems. Along with co-occurring substance abuse problems, there continues to be other problems such as treatment access to those who are homeless. In this paper we will explore research on the homeless population in relation to substance abuse, and effective interventions on an individual level.

Homelessness and substance abuse are an issue for the U.S. and many other countries. There are numerous studies that articulate substance abuse as the cause for homelessness. Even though this may be true, this paper will explore how those who are homeless may be introduced to substance abuse once on the streets. While there is conflicting information of the cause and effect of both homelessness and substance abuse, this paper will give the reader the necessary information to conclude that substance can indeed lead to the abuse of various drugs and alcohol in many cases. It will discuss the importance of treating both of these issues together and the role that the church can have for those who are living on the streets and are abusing drugs and alcohol. This paper discusses various topics to support this claim by statistical research and research that has been given forehand by actual homeless individuals who have become substance abusers. Research has been gathered from various peer reviewed journal articles and textbooks.

The widespread of the crack cocaine in the 1980 also increased homelessness. Many individuals suffering from homelessness also suffer from many different type of drug addictions. It is estimated that 40 % of homeless people are dependent on alcohol and 25% on other drugs. Alcoholism is increasingly being recognized as the most pervasive health problem for homeless. In addition homeless alcohol dependent individuals have a higher prevalence of other psychiatric disorders and more impaired in their social and vocational functioning. Alcoholism and the behaviors coupled with it have a huge influence on physical health. Majority of studies conducted on homelessness and drugs

Homelessness affects men, women, families, children, youth, and veterans. While structural factors, like the unequal distribution of income and lack of affordable housing, cause homelessness, certain vulnerabilities may determine who is at higher risk for homelessness. These include addictions, mental illness, domestic violence, medical conditions, and lack of education or job skills. This research paper will shed some light on the issue of homelessness and how we can prevents it with some suggested solutions.

Homeless people may have substance abuse problems and may also have mental health issues like anxiety, depression, or psychosis and other issues. Drug dependence, abusing alcohol, misusing prescribed medications are all ways of substance abuse among homeless people. Illicit drugs like cannabis, cocaine and methamphetamines or “ice” among others substances that are usually used. You cannot easily tell what comes first between substance abuse and mental heath issues because homeless people that abuse alcohol and drugs to cope with their mental health condition and for others substance abuse may bring about mental health

Moreover, “approximately 63% of homeless women have experienced domestic violence in their adult lives” (qtd. National Network to End Domestic Violence). Mental illness, drugs or alcohol addiction can attribute to chronic homelessness. Mental illness is a result of being unable to work, and a third of homeless people are diagnosed mental disorder. Relationships with family and friends will be disrupted easily for people who are drug or alcohol addiction. Furthermore, they will lose their jobs, and their lives will be harder. In other hand, maybe they will become homeless if they continue using drug or alcohol without thinking about their futures. Veterans homeless is a large homeless group in America. Because of the results from the war, they returned to the society within bringing health problems such as mental illness or disable. Moreover, they are not only unable to get a job, but also they do not receive enough benefits to support for their lives. According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, there are 131,000 veterans homeless on any given night, and they represent for one fourth and one-fifth of all homeless people (National Coalition for the Homeless, 2009).

For five of the seven states to be in the leading eleven of homeless population holds a 0.36% chance of happening, approximately 1 in 300. With the common knowledge of marijuana being a “gateway drug,” and Seattle now illegally approving sites for addicts to safely inject drugs, the attraction of addicts should not be a surprise. In combination with these addicts inevitably comes the homeless. This is represented by the unavoidable fact that two years prior to the legalization of marijuana, the Seattle-area saw an average increase of about 250 unsheltered homeless per year until the legalization of marijuana not so coincidentally brought that number to nearly 700 per year (Potts). In addition, according to a survey of 1,050 homeless in the Seattle-area, 55% admit to using drugs or alcohol, with a staggering 17.2% using methamphetamine, 12.2% using heroin, and 5.5% using crack (Klein). For people incapable of affording a home or maintaining a job, it is astounding that so many continue to afford and use drugs. Not only is the number of homeless in the Seattle-area a problem, but their habits are

199-200). The concept of aiding the recipient who is unable to follow the proper directions of a prescribed medication is a contributing factor to the successful treatment of mental illness. This is especially true with the homeless population. Most homeless people lack insurance and healthcare services, which necessitate the use of the emergency room as their primary venue of medical assistance. When people do not have the access that they need to meet the medical demands for their illness, then that illness will remain stagnant. Because most homeless people do not have health insurance, this limits their access to the necessary doctors, or hospitals in which they can receive the proper care. Due to this flourishing issue, many communities have instituted services that operate specifically to help the homeless population with mental illness.

People who are living on the streets tend to rely on drugs and alcohol to help them deal with their situations. After so long, the drug and alcohol problem could escalate into an addiction. Drug and alcohol abuse can be such a huge risk within the homeless community because the taker most likely will not have the means to treat the addiction and usually has no motivation to do so (The National Coalition for the Homeless 1). People who are homeless, like anyone else, will usually begin with gateway drugs such as marijuana, but as their need and dependence on the drug grows stronger and stronger, it can lead to other, harder drugs such as meth and heroin. A drug addiction could lead to even more prominent problems in homeless life that could go unresolved and potentially

In our society today with a worsening economy and a lack of jobs or affordable housing, homelessness can affect anyone at any time. There are many root causes as to why people are becoming homeless. As outlined by the National Coalition for the Homeless, factors that contribute to the growing numbers of homeless people in communities revolve around poverty, eroding work opportunities, and decline in public assistance. Causes of homelessness are not limited to the stereotypical reasons of addiction and mental health anymore, but have also begun to include effects from the financial

The homeless assistance programs in the United States are overloaded. There are more than half a million people who are currently homeless, either sleeping outside, in a transitional housing program, or in some sort of emergency shelter. Nearly 180,000 of those people are considered as unsheltered, meaning they sleep outside on the streets, or in makeshift tent cities (The State of Homelessness in America 2015, 2015). While the stigma of those who are homeless is widely perceived as those who are drug addicts, there are many other reasons people can find themselves without a place to call home. Foreclosure, poverty, eroding work opportunities, decline in public assistance, lack of affordable housing, domestic violence, and mental illness are

Another factor contributing to the risk of homelessness is substance use. In the national survey completed by the Department of Veteran Affairs on homeless veterans, it was found that seventy-six percent of homeless veterans reported a substance abuse habit. Increasing the risk for substance use in veterans is if they have a co-morbid issues, such as PTSD. Veterans with co-morbid mental health issue are an extremely vulnerable population, placing them at a higher risk for homelessness.

There was a time when drug abuse was seen as only a problem for the down and out. Today, drug abuse spans across all sectors of American life. Poor or rich, drug abuse is a major problem.

Homelessness is often affiliated with substance abuse. While it is true that many within this group have a drug or alcohol problem or sometimes even both, some say it would be wrong to claim that the two are always linked. Most addicts don’t become homeless and most homeless people aren’t addicts. Homelessness occurs for many different reasons. It is a difficult situation that does not seem to have any easy solutions. Some individuals may later turn to addiction as a way to cope with their lack of a safe haven. It can be complex to determine how much substance abuse leads to homelessness compared with the rate by which homelessness leads to substance abuse. In the past it was common to punish the homeless people by whipping them in public or

At one time, drug addicts were viewed as a creepy individual that hung around alleys looking to score drugs. Today, we realize that drug addiction affects people from every walk of life. Drug addiction or more precisely, opiate addiction might affect a housewife next door, a graduate student, a grandparent, a teacher, doctor, lawyer, celebrity, beauty queen, model, baby sitter, or the teen delivering the newspaper. Opiate addiction is a new phenomena that is slowly taking over the country. Just about everyone knows someone that has experienced a drug problem now or in the past. However, opiate addiction treatment has saved numerous lives.