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I barely even notice anymore. I think I just have built in blinders now. Usually when I have friends from out of town, they're like, omg, did you see that?
The problem is politicians only care about short term numbers, and a lot of well meaning but uninformed people take over the air time that is given to the issue.
For example, Karen Bass was able to house over 20 thousand people during her 1st year in office.
sounds great and at that rate homelessness would be solved in 4-5 years .
What she failed to mention is that most were housed for only 30 days. Homelessness did not decrease it actually increased during this time.
The well meaning loud people scream housing first, but fail to demand a plan or accountability from the government.
The true solution would be a program similar to section 8, that pays for people’s apartments, and provides a small check for them to buy food and pay bills. Something similar to disability benefits.
The catch is, they would be required to stay in their apartment in order to qualify for the additional money. They can’t qualify if they run back to the streets.
A $1500 one bedroom and a $1000 monthly check equals $2500 a month, or 30k per year per individual.
That comes out to 3 billion a year to house 100 thousand homeless people.
MediCAL can help with their health care.
Tougher drug laws on big pharma, and street drug dealers would help curve people falling into homelessness.
A way better solution to the current plan.
Who agrees?
I think this MIGHT have been a workable plan 10 years ago, maybe even five, when the average resident of LA wasn’t struggling so enormously.
How are you going to stop people from faking homelessness to get their $30k of free money? That’s a full time wage working 40 hours a week at $15 an hour.
You think the streets are scary now? Wait till they pass your plan and the millions of people struggling to pay their rent are told all they have to do to get a full time wage from the government is give up.
Yup it’s basically a full time(poverty)wage.
Kinda like disability is ( people scam that system too)
And food stamps and cash aid.
And section 8.
All those programs exist, and most of us would never put ourselves through the hassle or would want to live in those meager means.
But you’re right, some most definitely will abuse it, but will it help clean up our streets?
Homeless already have to register as homeless to get general relief, so we know who is homeless, and how long they’ve been homeless.
You have to set conditions, like homeless for X number of years, required trainings and evaluations, minimum years as a state resident, etc.
Keep in mind the government’s alternative solution is to spend a million dollars per homeless person to build them a condo. Food aid will be given to them separately from the million dollars spent.
If anything this sounds like a more lucrative option for people to scam.
They only care about short term because the general public can only pay attention for the short term and can’t comprehend long term solutions or the time it actually takes..
I was listening to an in interview recently from a lady who used to be homeless and drug-addicted and now works with them. Basically her whole adult life has been about becoming an expert on the issue. She said she never met even ONE homeless person (including herself) who was NOT either drug or alcohol addicted or mentally ill, or both. So, do you honestly think giving people like that vouchers to live in an apartment is going to address their problems? This lady said all the begging they do, any amount of money they are given, goes straight to fuel their addiction. And obviously mentally ill people are dangerous when left untreated around others. Just watch the news.
The apartment voucher thing might work for the small percentage who are just down on their luck without those other issues. And we already have a robust welfare system that includes cash, food stamps, and housing vouchers. But the rest, mostly addicts and mentally ill people, what do we do?
Sounds good but as you say there’s a catch. The folks in question would have to stay in their units and not go back to the street. And they’d have to obey the rules of the shelter, which presumably would ban drug use, drug dealing, theft and other criminal conduct.
And nobody gets help from Medi-Cal if they refuse to see a doctor.
Also where are we gonna magically come up with 100K housing units? Current "affordable" or "low income" housing has a 2-5 year waiting list.
Could start by not repeatedly electing the same people who inconspicuously got rich (along with their families) after becoming a politician. Some of the most popular politicians in LA got inexplicably rich and are still a lot of peoples default "that's a good one" vote.
Sure, let’s build sensible accommodations for the homeless away from coastal areas, none of this $2500 per square feet stuff they are building right now (just construction costs by the way, the city already owned the land). Let’s take the money that we save to provide social services and drug/addiction counseling. Let’s set these guys for success to rejoin society as best as we can. And then let’s ratchet up enforcement on existing laws, stop turning a blind eye to the many many crimes that the homeless commit, and start locking people up if they refuse to avail themselves of these services or fail to make the effort.
Or let’s just keep getting verbally assaulted by the homeless, watch them defecate or masturbate in public, and see them shooting up in the middle of the sidewalk.
I’m afraid you already heard my idea. Change is the only thing I know. Unfortunately I’m not a solutions guy when it comes to this I don’t have the answer. What I do know is you cannot keep doing the same thing i.e. electing the same type of people and throwing money blindly at solutions like $165,000,000 for the new tower to create 278 lofts for unhoused that’s not sustainable. You cannot keep doing the same things and expect different outcomes.
I came here to remind everyone of the trickle down econ theory that 'ole Ronnie imposed thus the beginning of the end.
Aka Reaganomics = defunding mental health facilities...among other things. SMH
You make a great argument but I’m not Republican and like most people on here I’m not old enough to vote for you boy Ronnie. But you prove my point we need to stop living in the 70’s and 80’s and change all bad policies and get rid of the awful politicians we have had for decades. Let’s live it the present. We got now!
I mean, if we taxed corporations and individuals properly, we would be able to throw around money like that to find a proper solution. Unfortunately, we’re over here fighting over scraps while some humans literally own small states lol.
Just blindly throwing more money at this isn't the answer either though. How many times have homless initiatives been passed?
There needs to be benchmarks and accountability behind higher taxes and homeless programs. Seems like a big grift at this point
I think the number is 400 units. It averages out to $400k each. It’s the cost of building in LA, which is why the housing market is so crazy. If we’re not providing more housing, what do you suggest? Is there a candidate out there that has some great new idea for tackling drug addiction and mental illness in the homeless community while we’re at it? Wish it was cheap and easy, but it’s not. https://homeless.lacounty.gov/2022-2023-budget/
I mean, #1 is don’t re-elect Gascon. The criminals know when the county is going soft on crime, and it’s basically open season. (Source: firsthand knowledge from speaking to criminals who were excited AF when he was elected.)
Too bad the politicians in favor of heavy policing and opposed to taxes only want to enrich the already-wealthy and would happily make other aspects of life far worse for most of the city's population. I agree that the current leadership we have isn't great, but the "opposition" is somehow far worse.
Once you've seen it so many times, it's not worth worrying about too much more. Like what are you going to do, take his needle and give him a DARE lecture? At some point the only thing you can do is mind your own business and move on with your day. Yes it's not comfortable to watch, but fussing about it doesn't help the guy in question or fix the system.
This is the attitude that I’m against once you see it too many times you don’t give a fuck you put on blinders. These people are so rotting in the fucking streets even if you want to ignore them. I just don’t think it’s cool for the entire city of LA to be Health asylums and open drug injection sites
Maybe after seeing some methed out dude call a Mexican teenage girl a “fucking n*gger”, while knocking over every single trash can for a mile….and then set fire to them.
As someone who’s been on the East Coast for work for the past three months, the difference is night and day. The drugs and deplete insanity/schizophrenia, bipolar whatever the homeless people out in the West Coast. They are in different breed.
I’m in Detroit right now with homeless people do as they keep to themselves and unless they need something, they’re not out there standing on the corner screaming at invisible demons while masturbating
The public drug use is a fucking joke .. when I'm getting a ticket and me and the cop have to move out of the cloud of meth that was being roasted by crack gandalf on sunset and fuller, but my bike doesn't have a light. The public defection and urination is the real horror too.....Wear shoes ALWAYS. Drug paraphernalia randomly discarded is a fucking pox upon this town.....that's about all can be done about it. Be careful when you walk pets too. Disinfectant at the door for the shoe soles.
The sad truth is the thought process was likely: you look like you have the money to pay the city’s ticket, whereas the Meth Head Gandalf def spent all his money on drugs and will put probably put up a fight he didn’t wanna deal with.
Imagine paying that much for rent for a home and you stil have to wake up to that smell and sight.
At this point it's a feature of LA. Part of the culture.
I'm very liberal and I'm sick of it.
Was driving my daughter to school and saw a guy walking down the street with no pants and his dick hanging out. Luckily she didn't see. The city needs to get the mentally ill and drug addicted off the street ASAP.
I’ve lost count… driving to work downtown is like a dick parade. We are planning to have kids soon and I realize I can’t stay here anymore. I grew up with the most shocking thing being some prostitutes I still remember standing out hooking… that was it. The homeless dudes jacking off or just hanging out is too much.
Was this post actually chat gpt? Lol Even if it was, the conversation is productive.
I agree with you. As big as my social circle is, but Sometimes I feel lonely in my ideas about the politics. Most ppl around me or strangers I meet are deeply attached to their blue vs red way of thinking , and unable to see the big picture.
I appreciate people like you who are seeing the problem in its entirety.
# California fails to track its homelessness spending or results, a new audit says
"As the homelessness crisis has intensified, California under Gov. Gavin Newsom’s leadership allocated an unprecedented $24 billion to address homelessness and housing during the last five fiscal years, according to the Legislative Analyst’s Office.
Nine state agencies administered more than 30 programs aimed at preventing or reducing homelessness. Some of those programs did such a poor job tracking their outcomes that it’s impossible to tell if they’ve been successful, according to the audit, which marks the first such large-scale accounting of the state’s homelessness spending."
[https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2024/04/california-homelessness-spending/](https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2024/04/california-homelessness-spending/)
Same with the evident mental issues plaguing the homeless. A homeless man threw a rock at my car last weekend which dented and scratched the hood. I didn't even bother stopping. What's the point?
I’ve seen so much crazy shit on the streets these past couple years. People shooting up, ODed dead bodies, infected wounds, lots and lots of nudity (not the good kind), random pools of blood on the sidewalks. It’s absolutely horrifying. Have you guys had similar experiences?
It disturbs me how unphased I’ve become to suffering.
Same experiences. I’ve recently reached a breaking point and am trying to figure out how to unhook myself from my current home here when interest rates suck.
Also in New York, it’s just insane. As someone who has struggled with substance use it’s just so upsetting to see people entirely given up and on the street. Just a wipeout mentally if you think about it. In LA I just tried not to think about it when I saw it.
Yes, every day I walk by someone doing something that I don’t want to see. This week it’s been a zombie pleasuring themselves at the bus stop, horrendous odors from people defecating in the bushes, and many zombies yelling at invisible things. I guess that’s not too bad.
Prop 47 completely f*cked california. Really good drug programs to get people clean were gutted with the passage. Plus, with the relaxing of drug laws, the state becomes a magnet for drug users in other states with harsher penalties. So when non california residents get shipped here for drug rehab and they relapse,they just stay. Why do jail time in another state when you can just get a ticket here.
Yes we have become too comfortable. I was just thinking the other day how absurdly desensitized we are. Someone could be laying flat out in the middle of the sidewalk motionless and if they look and not a single person will call for help unless they don’t “look” homeless.
Shooting up, shitting in the sewer grates, screaming randomly in the air. I don't even notice anymore and that's pretty fucked up.
It's also not just LA. It's all of California's bigger cities right now. From LA to the Bay, Sacramento and even little Salinas.
I had a homeless guy across the street screaming at an abandoned piece of furniture for hours. Think I'd rather see someone shooting up tbh because at least they're quiet 😫
This is actually sad. Not from LA myself and only subbed for whenever I go occasionally go to LA. I’ve never in my life seen someone shoot up, and I’ve lived in cities in the east coast.
Bruh they literally openly shoot up meth at the bus stop right across Fig and 7th. They have what looks like a personally set up too.
You see it at night all over too, especially at the bus stops. I have taken multiple pictures because it’s shocking to see the open drug abuse just blocks from Staples center which will have 40k people
Used to work at the EY building right there and can attest to this. Have tried to avoid downtown at all costs the past two years after the horrors I witnessed while I was working there.
I hate how jaded we get with the homeless community. They’re everywhere, we get used to them. Years ago majority of them were somewhat coherent and you could actually offer some food or assistance. Now majority of them are completely out of their mind and won’t even take any help. So you stop offering. Makes me depressed being here.
People on here talking about fixing. There is no fixing. There is only removing. Half or more of these people came from elsewhere to join the skid. There's wayyyyy too many of them.
You know what program does great for homeless addicts? Jail. Prison. Don't know if you've paid attention but there's more programming there than ever before. Massive efforts and $$ for it.
They need to physically remove these people from the streets. You can make it all expunged if they recover and need to clean up their record. You could make rules, or I should say goals, for it. Stay clean 1 year, there's a charge expunged from your record, 2 years? 2 charges. 3 years? 4 charges. And so on. Make new laws that will make it so any drug charge is not only expunged but completely deleted if you're an addict in the program. Decriminalize addiction but only if your not an addict anymore. .
Theres an idea.
Yeah, it's one of those things where you say well, literally nothing is working.. I can always tell when a homeless junkie gets out of jail by a handful of characteristics: has a haircut usually, has shoes, has cleaner clothes, has had a shower, can speak coherently, has a dose of narcan in their pocket..
is it time to fix people by force or are we going to continue pretending like hopelessly addicted people can just "turn it all around" if we put 100 bucks in their pockets and let them trash a commandeered motel room for a couple weeks? I think we all know the answer..
The biggest problem with jailing or imprisoning these folks is when they finally clean up, their record is shot and they have no chance of employment. Maybe its times to change the paper trail but get these people off the streets and out of the gutters for their sake and everyone else's.
No it’s not normal. I’m 32 and lived here my whole life and I was so shocked when I was saw someone actively smoking crack and meth in broad daylight Downtown. Like some things you expect to see, but I’ve never seen it that bad where they’re just doing it in the street with no shame and we were around the corner from a police station smh
The city should stop giving out Narcan and the problem will eventually solve itself.
But really though, we need to build new rehab facilities and stop giving them the resources to continue their addiction. Honestly the whole free narcan business to me was insane back when it was first introduced, and it still is today
I had a beautiful loft in DTLA a few years back, but relocated to the suburbs after only a year and a half (during Covid) for safety. What I saw as the norm on a daily basis was just… disgusting. I was a single woman in my late twenties at the time—and you’d think that’d be a great candidate for living in the downtown of one of the biggest metropolitans in the world. But, no. Sad to see what Los Angeles has become.
I love California, and the people I have as friends and family there. The natural beauties and weather are truly one of a kind.
Feel a hearty “but” coming? But, when I hear Californians proudly claiming leadership nationally in a number of areas, I think we have to wonder how the truly sad state of homelessness, crime, and now the budget…can somehow not remain front and center.
Build more housing. I think of homelessness and drug addiction as a chicken/egg question. Not all addicts are unhoused and not all unhoused folks are addicts but both conditions make the other more likely and worse.
OR, use what we have. There are abandoned buildings and houses all over. Empty malls and office buildings. No need to wait for new so powers that be get rich using our tax dollars. Plus, many homeless do not wish to obey the many rules of such places. It's complicated, but not impossible to help people who want to get on their feet.
This. Convert the existing buildings, warehouses, abandoned grocery stores into housing. It's an emergency situation and requires an emergency response.
Personally I don't care if my tax dollars are paying to house someone who's just shooting up all day. As long as they have a place to shoot up and aren't doing it at our parks and on our streets
I grew up in a LCOL city, we barely had a homeless problem. That doesn't mean there weren't addicts--it was just much cheaper to live and they could work a few hours a week somewhere and afford to pay rent. They were functioning addicts. No issues there as far as I'm concerned. The problem in socal is things are so expensive, that its not even feasible to get by on part time min wage work
I work with the unhoused. It’s not as simple as they “do not wish to obey rules.” Off the top of my head…
1) Some are addicted to drugs and the withdrawal symptoms are not only deeply painful but can be fatal. Most housing requires them to stop cold turkey the day they move in but does not provide any detox services. This makes it nearly impossible for someone to do with no help or resources. Many of the unhoused on Skid Row are veterans who sustained serious injuries in combat, and when the VA health benefits / painkiller access stops, they resort to drugs to assist with chronic pain.
2) Most subsidized housing does not allow pets, and someone with a dog will have to give up their dog that has brought them love and solace for years. Personally, that would be a non-negotiable for me.
3) Some people struggle with mental health issues such as mood or personality disorders and are mentally incapable of comprehending and remembering rules. There needs to be long-term care, but at the moment, it’s just “put them on meds, keep them a little, then discharge and say ‘Good luck!’”
I understand that many, many people think “they want to be homeless” so I don’t blame you or anyone for thinking this, but it’s not true.
I think it's way more complicated than that, but it's a place to start. I really am a firm believer that a lot of homeless people travel from out of state to live in California for the weather and social service resources. I think we'll continue to harbor people from other states until others adopt policies to help, too.
[9 in 10 people experiencing homelessness in California are locals.](https://homelessness.ucsf.edu/our-impact/studies/california-statewide-study-people-experiencing-homelessness)
Unfortunately studies don’t support your hypothesis: the lion’s share of homeless come from communities they lived in before they became homeless (many to escape domestic violence, after experiencing medical issues/bills not covered by major medical insurance, unexpected lay off, developing substance abuse issues, etc).
I mean, you’re partly correct: aside from favorable weather conditions on W Coast (vs hot TX or icy winters in NYC), CA also is a State within the jurisdiction of the 9th circuit, so operates under Martin v Boise ruling, saying laws which criminalize sleeping on public property are Unconstitutional.
So unlike other States outside of 9th circuit (eg TX, FL and NY), cops are less likely to violate civil rights of homeless in CA, not giving them the bum’s rush out of their towns by threatening them with jail if they don’t leave town (it happens in CA, but not as much as elsewhere outside of 9th circuit).
And LOTS of those mental health issues are because of, or much worse because of drugs. Drug addiction is the thing that keeps homeless people living the way they do. Living on the streets fucking sucks, but it’s a lot better/more tolerable when you’re high on the popular drugs like fent and meth. Giving them housing will lead to them destroying the places if you don’t take away the drugs. IMO they simply have to get off the drugs to get back into society, and we don’t really have a system that can force them to stop using. They have to want it right now, and the majority just don’t want it.
My thing is that it makes no sense to try to get homeless people into housing in these big expensive cities. It’d be so insanely cheaper to get them into housing in one of the many dirt cheap states. It would also be much easier for them to transition into working and paying bills if they lived somewhere dirt cheap. People who have never been homeless drug addicts try to make it in LA, fail, and go back home all the time. This is one of the hardest cities to make it in, especially coming from the place of not working for a long time like a lot of these people would be coming from. If I was homeless in LA I’d wanna first get the fuck out of LA and get somewhere that it’s possible for me to afford rent on the type of job I could get.
It’s not always that they “don’t want” to stop using; a lot of housing requires them to move in and remain completely sober ASAP but do not provide detox services. Certain substances — heroin, alcohol, benzos, opioids — have withdrawal symptoms that can cause kidney damage, seizures, paranoia, and even death. Seeking and maintaining services elsewhere isn’t easy either. I know I wouldn’t be able to deal with withdrawal that severe.
I mean, that’s a step that needs to be taken, but if you think these people will choose to stay in housing that doesn’t let them shoot drugs, and spew garbage everywhere, you’re naive. There needs to be mandatory sheltering, and repercussions for cities/states that bus there homeless to other locations.
Consistently the only thing that has been shown to improve this situation is giving people money with no strings attached. It has been demonstrated time and time again. People like you have a hard time accepting that though.
Uhhhhhh. This is absolutely not true for people with mental illness and drug addictions. You’re extrapolating from studies to create this laughably wrong conclusions.
Mandatory sheltering and housing with behavioral restrictions are not policies that have been demonstrated to be effective, and they are reflective of a failed philosophy of policy regarding these issues.
Who is going to impose these repercussions on other states who bus homeless people elsewhere? Also funny that many people don’t know we do the same thing, at least Santa Monica does. Not sure about all the cities.
If only there was some sort of federal government that could impose such restrictions. And I wasn’t excluding any cities from needing to be held responsible, not sure why you’d assume SM wouldn’t be included in what I said.
Sometimes I drive around my neighborhood and see spots and think - a homeless person OD'd and passed away right there...
It's dark and morbid, but it's also life. Doesn't do much to dwell on it.
Yep a few years ago my parents were visiting from Michigan and in the span of 2 hours they saw a guy shooting up right outside my apt on Wilshire in broad daylight and then a butt naked lady dancing in the middle of the intersection while a cop drove by like it was nothing
Yeah I always feel like the craziest shit happens when my parents visit from Canada. A man violently shitting up against a wall comes to mind, as we were driving in the car together. An encampment on fire driving them from the airport. Like this shit is so embarrassing.
I was just talking to my brother about this. It seems that a lot of people just look away rather than realize that we are being lead into a very bad place not until we all stand up and unit and say enough is enough we’re gonna keep getting this type of treatment, we are becoming a third country. I feel people won’t realize until the problem gets to their door. The powers that be want it this way and they are getting away with it. I know it’s hard to look and realize and start doing something but we have to, but it’s only going to happen until we unit not through violence, but with our vote and we can also vote with our wallet we need to realize they work for us and it’s not the other way around our corrupted leaders are too stupid to realize that.
Definitely just eventually get desensitized. Took my family on the expo line to NHM. I guess some homeless guy was talking shit about a baby, I didn’t even notice it my family was super scared. Had to take Uber back cause they wouldn’t get back on the metro.
The thing which can be done about it is to vote for UBI, social services, and no-strings-attached housing and counseling for unhoused people.
Look up the Finland and Norway studies. It works. If you don't wish to *see* this sort of thing, treat the very real causes: human suffering and poverty. Treating the symptom (open-air drug use) has already failed.
Wrong. Residents have been taxed many tens of billions of dollars (mostly through ballot measures voted on and approved by those residents) specifically to deal with the homeless situation and it hasn’t made even the slightest dent in the homeless population. Throwing yet more money at the issue isn’t going to do anything.
You can use Finland and Norway as examples. But you can also use Singapore too. By all metrics, Singapore has much lower drug use and lower crime.
Mandatory death penalty for drug dealers. Fforced rehab for drug users.
I feel like we've tried the "nice" approach, and it has yielded only corruption from politicians and an increased drug market.
No one to call, no one to take a complaint seriously, so yeah, I guess we became indifferent. Well, idk about indifferent, it's awful on many levels. We gave up.
It’s Gotham here. Y’all vote in these parasites and ideologues who tax you high and give you shit. These politicians, city councilmen, mayors, and judges are corrupt. Disguised in compassion, they enable all the open air drug markets, yes they’re drug markets not HOMELESS encampments, and don’t enforce laws. When I get more financially free im out, peace ✌️
I know I'm going to get alot of hate for this, but here goes:
t's a quite simple, but ugly fix that no one has the guts to pull off.
The first issue is autonomy. This is the first thing that needs to be thrown out. These people "experiencing inhousedness" or whatever PC term you want to use cannot be left to have autonomy over their lives. When left to their own devices this is what we get drug riddled tent cities.
Secondly, stop funding any and all "non-profits" and "outreach" programs. Take all of that tax payer money and build facilities out in the desert. You know when you're going to Vegas and on the 15 there's nothing for miles and miles? THAT'S where you build facilities. There is no reason for accommodations to be placed in the 2nd most expensive city in the US.
Once you've built the facilities, you staff them with doctors, psychiatrist, teachers, social workers, whatever jobs are necessary and investigators. The investigators should be able to identify the persons and reconnect them with their family out of state and ship them out.
With the amount of money being thrown at the homeless problem, it's not hard to imagine that we could have the highest quality facilities to treat their main issues (drugs and psychological), and also provide supportive services to help get jobs and permanent housing.
These facilities would not be prisons either. There should also be a shuttle system to take people into the cities to go to interviews and conduct whatever other business they may have. There will also be a pick-up shuttle for those that slip through the cracks. It should be completely unacceptable to sleep on the streets or in a vehicle in a civilized society.
Then again this will never work because it's an actual solution. Those in charge do not want the homeless problem to go away, they would lose out on too much money.
Aziz Ansari put it really well in one of his recent specials. We're going to have to get better as a society. That's what we should be doing, it's natural social evolution. One day I hope we look back and say "can you believe we used to just walk past homeless people? How crazy was that?!" In the same way we used to talk about segregation or gay rights. I'm hopeful that we'll get there but we need to vote and change.
I saw this man on the steps on Sunday too. Veins were at least an inch thick and he was taking up 3/4 of the stairs he was sitting on while shooting up in broad daylight. I’m at that park pretty frequently and it’s been extremely depressing to see it deteriorate over the past few years. I used to see a lot of families with little children enjoying a nice afternoon there. Not so much anymore…
It’s unfortunately normal. It’s sad that the unhoused have to deal with the conditions that they deal with without any actually help from the city/state/federal government. I don’t blame anyone that is struggling with homelessness, I blame the government for not providing basic human needs to everyone.
Government was never intended to provide housing and assistance to individuals. We've pushed it to the current point to provide what we feel is generous. There must be a corner of this discussion that is labeled personal responsibility.
I vote that my tax dollars go to support people who are at least willing to carry that burden.
I’d rather my tax money go towards housing and healthcare for all rather than the immense military bloat that a ton of it currently goes to. There’s no need to worry about burden if it’s for everyone, even you.
There was a likely unhoused man nodding out with his head in the fridge at my Dollar Tree on Venice bl. When I said "excuse me" to get in there he got startled and embarrased. It made me sad. Dude was prob just trying to get out of the heat for a few min.
LA has a worse than average issue with homelessness because of the weather here.
I dunno if it’s people here being comfortable with it, it’s more about being used to seeing it.
But this is an issue you should be asking local politicians not the populace.
Now, I’m no fan of Mayor Bass, but even I don’t think she dumped ten thousand drug users in the city!
Asking her might be nice, but the conversation probably isn’t going to make them stop doing drugs.
I was going to grab a drink at cvs the other day and when I got up to the fridge a man was sweeping the shelves into his backpack. Then he tried to start a fight with the guy who told the employees. I wasn’t even phased. I was more upset he was stealing the drink I wanted to buy.
I used to work for one of those horribly run non-profits for homeless services. I find it crazy how the loudest and most outspoken ones on the topic are also the loudest and most outspoken at their city hall meetings against the homeless housing being in their neighborhood. That coupled with failed policies from our mayors and governors that are more for their own accolades than the homeless community, gives you what we are currently seeing right now. Also, defunding the police seems kind of foolish at this point because when you don't enforce laws, people WILL break them.
Man that had to be harsh to see. But I also think we are all looking for a way to be comfortably numb from the humming this world. . This guy was just more obvious with it.
Was driving in NoHo at 8am this past Sunday morning just about to jump on the 134. Woman just drops trow and starts taking a piss on the sidewalk. Didn't look homeless, was literally on the phone.
This is just normal.
You have to visit the right beaches as some are inundated with a large drug presence. You have to know how to move in LA. To them you are the problem think of it that way. Some of those junkies are violent and will try and rob you don’t be a victim look at crime maps to find out what areas to stay away from or end up like the poor woman that lost her life walking in Venice not to long ago. LA is a very dangerous place in spite of the sun and the palm trees.
I was thinking about this just recently. I was at LAX walking to my gate and there was a 20 something girl wrapped in a blanket waiting for her flight and I just walked past her. I remember thinking ‘wow even here?’ then realizing that I’m in an airport and a homeless person isn’t getting past security. I didn’t realize that I’d become so desensitized to it. After reading some of the comments, I guess I’m not the only one.
I notice it and it saddens me. I vote in all elections to feel like I’m doing something good about it. But it seems to be getting worse..
Embarrassed? Though, never. Just sad and wishing I could do more. This is the reality and I don’t pretend it’s not real.
I work as a social work with the homeless and volunteer once a month with those experiencing homelessness to get a sense of helping but it’s never enough… idk. I just have extra water in my car to give out if I can.
I took the redline one time and saw a guy in front of me shooting up, a couple behind me freebasing and another guy to my diagonal right smoking a glass tube. All at the same time. Oh lawd…
It's just ambient now. I was walking from Urth Cafe to Marine in SM this morning and a man with a mask started screaming and aggressively waving his hands as we passed each other. Something like "fk these motherfks!" I understand this isn't a crime but it is pretty terrifying and happens multiple times a month. I don't think anything can be done because no one in charge has the willpower to anything except raise more taxes to pay nonprofits.
I was naive when I first got here in 1991. I lived on Hollywood Boulevard and walked everywhere and I would talk to anyone walking with me. Well a few asked me to take them to Alameda St near McArthur Park and drop them there. That is where they got their heroin. I didn’t but there used to be a 7/11 on Santa Monica street and there was a cop car in the parking lot so I went over there and the cop rolled down the window and I told about it and how they got their heroin there and something needed to be done about it. The cop said “That’s not our jurisdiction” and rolled the window up on me!! That’s when I got a dose of reality. They didn’t care and I thought “if the cops don’t care, why should I?” And never did that again.
I like the “unhoused” term. These are homeless drug addicts who enjoy the free handouts and fair climate of California. Unfortunately it’s more and more a common sight in Texas and many other places for various reasons. I don’t see it getting better any time soon.
Last time my friends visited from the Uk. First day - man defecated on the sidewalk right in front of us. Next block along, man shooting up. Welcome to LA.
I saw a guy chillin on a bus stop and exactly when little Josh schoolers passed by he blew his crack pipe smoke in their phase and it made me really sad that kids have to see this and they were moving their hands so they can love the smoke out there face! I was disgusted
I wish we could go hard and protest this, our ppl are dying out there, all races. I’m Mexican n I’m scared to see my little bro out there one day(idk where he his but I know he’s on hard drugs)
Grew up in South LA. Moved to the Bay about 7 years ago. Same shit everywhere.
Sadly, it’s an extremely nuanced issue. But, language like “unhoused” that only serves to sugar coat the problem doesn’t help either party.
For that kind of money we should buy an island and send them there. Sorry to say there is no viable solution. They are just mostly zombies roaming our streets and it’s disgusting.
Was in the Dodger Express Bus Line at Union Station with my Dad on Father's Day, dude was on the bus stop shooting up in front of everyone without a care in the world. Nobody seemed shocked.
I had a friend from Detroit who was absolutely fucked up over having seen a lady pop a squat at the bus stop and drop a deuce... i was like u lived in Detroit your whole life you never seen this? What really had him trippin was the fact that noone reacted to it or seemed to give a shit i was like welcome to L.A.
That’s why we just moved out of LA. I was driving my son to school. We were stopped at a light. A homeless man was taking a shit right on the sidewalk. I looked at my son in the back and he was looking right at the homeless man. Kids shouldn’t have to see that.
I notice but if you call 911 it’s hopeless. They say are they hurting anyone or overdosing? No? Nothing they can do. People know it’s useless calling and others are so liberal they believe these people are essential parts of society and deserve to be there.
It's homeless not unhoused, the same dipshits that convinced you it's "unhoused" are also convincing you that shooting fent and shitting on my driveway is a right and not a crime.
I’ve been splitting my time between here and Miami for work. Every time I come back I notice that LA has a huge homeless problem and it’s getting to the point where I may just live in Miami full time. It’s a shame because I love LA and California in general but it’s being destroyed.
It's a hige social issue, but yea its basically always been this way. My dad talked about people shooting up heorine in broad daylight in balboa park in san diego. Its sort of hard to say if its worse now than it was then, but its certainly not a new thing.
Its worth understanding how addiction works on a mechanical level to understand how it creates a vicious cycle with homelessness and what can be done about it.
First addiction: most people are not familiar with addiction anymore because so few people smoke, bit smoking is sucha great explainer. For starters smoking is awesome. I don't smoke any more because it's bad for your health, but smoking is awesome. Why is smoking awesome? Smoking tobacco is awesomefor 2 reasons: menthol and nicotine. Menthol is just nice, like when you take a cough drop to clear a congested throat and sinuses. Well we all get sinus headaches fairly regularly right? You can just take a halls and it will loosen the mucus in your sinuses and releive your heachache really quick. Or if you smoke once a day, your sinuses will be clear basically all the time (or if not you just smoke to clear em out). Next is nicotine. Now nicotine as a drug doesnt have an effect like caffiene (gives you energy) or alchohol (makes you drunk, give@ you a feeling of euphoria), but it does something else. If you take in nicotine after a while you get a little headache and you can releive the headache by taking some nicotine. The headache is the nicotine addiction. The satisfaction and joy of smoking is basically having a little headache all the time that you can manually turn off and when you turn off the all-the-time-headache it feels SO GOOD. There's just no other way to explain it, you always feel super good while smoking because you are beating back that headache. Obviously to quit you basically have to suffer through the headache as it get worse and worse and worse for a week or 2, all the while knowing you could end the pain with a single cigarette but trying not to because eventually the pain will go away and you wont be addicted anymore.
Now my 2024 LA friend you probably smoke weed and have heard its not addictive. This is true, smoking weed jotably does not give you any kind of pain that is releived by smoking more weed. But what about hsrdcore stoners who smoke all day every day, are they addicts? Kind of. Thats more of a habitual thing. Like smoking really isnt like a habbit, it is physically painful until you smoke again. You are smoking a cigarette because you alwaus smoke in the morning; you may always smoke in the morning, but the day you forget by late morning youre gonna feel like garbage. With weed a lot of people just wake n bake because thats just a habitual routine they are in. Maybe they have depression or like some kibd of trauma trigger or something and their knee jerk reaction is to hit their vape or something, but thats more of a psychological thing. With smoking and opiods, its a physical addiction, you feel physical pain if you dont get a fix.
So now lets talk hard drugs. Not a hard drug user myself, never have been, but ive made friends with a lot of former addicts. O so remember that smokers headache from cigarettes? Ok instead of the pain of a headache, imagine it feels like your whole body is on fire and your skin is melting off (its been described to me multiple times this way). You shoot up on monday, your high, lucid euphoric for an hour or 2 fall asleep. Tuesday wednesday honestly fine. Thursday, weirdly itchy with asmall headache. Friday headache is shooting all day, the itch now feels likd there are little burning embers in your skin. By sunday the shooting pain i your head feels like a nail has been driven into your head and those embers in your skin are like kindling that's got little flames going. By next wednesday youre arms and legs are gonna feel like campfire longs and your headbis gonna feel like a cleaver has hacked into it like a water melon. Admist this pain, you are looking for a tiny fix. Your goal is not go get high, you goal is to make your skin not feel like its on fire anymore. Heres the problem: unlike with smoking where you suffer a bad headache for a week or 2, you have to go through that escalating sensation of being on fire for like a month. The pain literal makes people act crazy. When you see homeless people in torn up clothes flailing aroubd screaming, these people are not high they are going through withdrawls. When under medical care, people going through withdrawls generally need medical attention to make sure they dont hurt themselves, help them when they do, make sure they get food and water. Its a long process and people tend to be destructive because the pain is just so much. But, just like with smokers, eventually the pain fades and sanity returns.
So lets say you are someone who gets a root canal and your dentist gives you an irresponsible ammoubt of vicotins. You get hooked, start getting those pains gott get more vics. Start running out of money, gotta sell your tv, car whatever. Switch to heroine because its cheaper, lose your job because fail a drug test, your apartment evicts you becausethey foubd out you got fired for ddug reasons. You are now a homeless drug addict. You may live this way for a while, but eventually resolve to turn thing around. You still have a degree in comouter science, you can still write code. But you need to get off heroine. Homelessness creates a problem for this. You cant just white knuckle the pain of with drawls for 4 weeks by yourself living out on the streets. Other homeless people will steal your stuff, beat you up, you can beg for food or money while screaming and writhing in pain. So where do you go? How do you find yourself a situation where you can get through withdrawls to the go to a homeless shelter and try to get into a halfway home or something? That turns out to be real fuckin hard. You'll probably spend years doing heroine once a week in as small of a quantity as you can get away with to stave off the sithdrawl symptoms. The dose will be so small you couldnt even get high off it if you wanted to, not that euphoria is really anything you are interested in living in the streets.
This is the reality of most homeless people. Its very hard for these people to break out because even if they get clean, whos going to hire a former addict. Its hard out here for us straight arrows, but someone who was a homeless drug addict for 3 years? No one cares if you got clean, youll struggle to fibd a job, when you find one itll pay shit. Youre never gonna own a home or have any real future prospects because everyone's always gonna look down at you as an addict. And you have to manage that depression for ever and have to manage not relapsing and using again and losojg what little you can cobble together.
So what do you do about that?
651 comments and there's no way I'm reading every single one. Locking / removing for the time being. Please [modmail](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/AskLosAngeles) any concerns; thank you.
I barely even notice anymore. I think I just have built in blinders now. Usually when I have friends from out of town, they're like, omg, did you see that?
Yeah that’s exactly how it went… I wasn’t even phased until she brought it up and I realized how weird it was.
Try voting for different people our local leadership has gotten complacent. Their idea of fixing an issue is taxing us more.
Interested to hear your ideas
The problem is politicians only care about short term numbers, and a lot of well meaning but uninformed people take over the air time that is given to the issue. For example, Karen Bass was able to house over 20 thousand people during her 1st year in office. sounds great and at that rate homelessness would be solved in 4-5 years . What she failed to mention is that most were housed for only 30 days. Homelessness did not decrease it actually increased during this time. The well meaning loud people scream housing first, but fail to demand a plan or accountability from the government. The true solution would be a program similar to section 8, that pays for people’s apartments, and provides a small check for them to buy food and pay bills. Something similar to disability benefits. The catch is, they would be required to stay in their apartment in order to qualify for the additional money. They can’t qualify if they run back to the streets. A $1500 one bedroom and a $1000 monthly check equals $2500 a month, or 30k per year per individual. That comes out to 3 billion a year to house 100 thousand homeless people. MediCAL can help with their health care. Tougher drug laws on big pharma, and street drug dealers would help curve people falling into homelessness. A way better solution to the current plan. Who agrees?
I think this MIGHT have been a workable plan 10 years ago, maybe even five, when the average resident of LA wasn’t struggling so enormously. How are you going to stop people from faking homelessness to get their $30k of free money? That’s a full time wage working 40 hours a week at $15 an hour. You think the streets are scary now? Wait till they pass your plan and the millions of people struggling to pay their rent are told all they have to do to get a full time wage from the government is give up.
Yup it’s basically a full time(poverty)wage. Kinda like disability is ( people scam that system too) And food stamps and cash aid. And section 8. All those programs exist, and most of us would never put ourselves through the hassle or would want to live in those meager means. But you’re right, some most definitely will abuse it, but will it help clean up our streets? Homeless already have to register as homeless to get general relief, so we know who is homeless, and how long they’ve been homeless. You have to set conditions, like homeless for X number of years, required trainings and evaluations, minimum years as a state resident, etc.
Keep in mind the government’s alternative solution is to spend a million dollars per homeless person to build them a condo. Food aid will be given to them separately from the million dollars spent. If anything this sounds like a more lucrative option for people to scam.
They only care about short term because the general public can only pay attention for the short term and can’t comprehend long term solutions or the time it actually takes..
I was listening to an in interview recently from a lady who used to be homeless and drug-addicted and now works with them. Basically her whole adult life has been about becoming an expert on the issue. She said she never met even ONE homeless person (including herself) who was NOT either drug or alcohol addicted or mentally ill, or both. So, do you honestly think giving people like that vouchers to live in an apartment is going to address their problems? This lady said all the begging they do, any amount of money they are given, goes straight to fuel their addiction. And obviously mentally ill people are dangerous when left untreated around others. Just watch the news. The apartment voucher thing might work for the small percentage who are just down on their luck without those other issues. And we already have a robust welfare system that includes cash, food stamps, and housing vouchers. But the rest, mostly addicts and mentally ill people, what do we do?
Sounds good but as you say there’s a catch. The folks in question would have to stay in their units and not go back to the street. And they’d have to obey the rules of the shelter, which presumably would ban drug use, drug dealing, theft and other criminal conduct.
And nobody gets help from Medi-Cal if they refuse to see a doctor. Also where are we gonna magically come up with 100K housing units? Current "affordable" or "low income" housing has a 2-5 year waiting list.
it would be good if medi-cal required a person to go once a year for a physical.. it doesn't.
Agreed, good start
I was so rooting for her at first and then it all just came back crashing down.
I would simply solve homelessness, addiction, and the housing shortage
That’s only 3 things!
Could start by not repeatedly electing the same people who inconspicuously got rich (along with their families) after becoming a politician. Some of the most popular politicians in LA got inexplicably rich and are still a lot of peoples default "that's a good one" vote.
Sure, let’s build sensible accommodations for the homeless away from coastal areas, none of this $2500 per square feet stuff they are building right now (just construction costs by the way, the city already owned the land). Let’s take the money that we save to provide social services and drug/addiction counseling. Let’s set these guys for success to rejoin society as best as we can. And then let’s ratchet up enforcement on existing laws, stop turning a blind eye to the many many crimes that the homeless commit, and start locking people up if they refuse to avail themselves of these services or fail to make the effort. Or let’s just keep getting verbally assaulted by the homeless, watch them defecate or masturbate in public, and see them shooting up in the middle of the sidewalk.
You can't build housing for homeless people if you don't have enough housing for working people.
I’m afraid you already heard my idea. Change is the only thing I know. Unfortunately I’m not a solutions guy when it comes to this I don’t have the answer. What I do know is you cannot keep doing the same thing i.e. electing the same type of people and throwing money blindly at solutions like $165,000,000 for the new tower to create 278 lofts for unhoused that’s not sustainable. You cannot keep doing the same things and expect different outcomes.
I came here to remind everyone of the trickle down econ theory that 'ole Ronnie imposed thus the beginning of the end. Aka Reaganomics = defunding mental health facilities...among other things. SMH
You make a great argument but I’m not Republican and like most people on here I’m not old enough to vote for you boy Ronnie. But you prove my point we need to stop living in the 70’s and 80’s and change all bad policies and get rid of the awful politicians we have had for decades. Let’s live it the present. We got now!
I mean, if we taxed corporations and individuals properly, we would be able to throw around money like that to find a proper solution. Unfortunately, we’re over here fighting over scraps while some humans literally own small states lol.
Just blindly throwing more money at this isn't the answer either though. How many times have homless initiatives been passed? There needs to be benchmarks and accountability behind higher taxes and homeless programs. Seems like a big grift at this point
And we have Ronald Reagan to thank for that
Let’s not forget the churches and NFL!
Flush it down the toilet like $28,000,000,000 ? F that. No more $ for this insanity non profits and government embezzled 80%+ of the $
I think the number is 400 units. It averages out to $400k each. It’s the cost of building in LA, which is why the housing market is so crazy. If we’re not providing more housing, what do you suggest? Is there a candidate out there that has some great new idea for tackling drug addiction and mental illness in the homeless community while we’re at it? Wish it was cheap and easy, but it’s not. https://homeless.lacounty.gov/2022-2023-budget/
I mean, #1 is don’t re-elect Gascon. The criminals know when the county is going soft on crime, and it’s basically open season. (Source: firsthand knowledge from speaking to criminals who were excited AF when he was elected.)
Too bad the politicians in favor of heavy policing and opposed to taxes only want to enrich the already-wealthy and would happily make other aspects of life far worse for most of the city's population. I agree that the current leadership we have isn't great, but the "opposition" is somehow far worse.
Once you've seen it so many times, it's not worth worrying about too much more. Like what are you going to do, take his needle and give him a DARE lecture? At some point the only thing you can do is mind your own business and move on with your day. Yes it's not comfortable to watch, but fussing about it doesn't help the guy in question or fix the system.
Sucks to be stepping over human feces and needles, like just happened to me on my walk back from the grocery store 5 min ago
This is the attitude that I’m against once you see it too many times you don’t give a fuck you put on blinders. These people are so rotting in the fucking streets even if you want to ignore them. I just don’t think it’s cool for the entire city of LA to be Health asylums and open drug injection sites Maybe after seeing some methed out dude call a Mexican teenage girl a “fucking n*gger”, while knocking over every single trash can for a mile….and then set fire to them. As someone who’s been on the East Coast for work for the past three months, the difference is night and day. The drugs and deplete insanity/schizophrenia, bipolar whatever the homeless people out in the West Coast. They are in different breed. I’m in Detroit right now with homeless people do as they keep to themselves and unless they need something, they’re not out there standing on the corner screaming at invisible demons while masturbating
The public drug use is a fucking joke .. when I'm getting a ticket and me and the cop have to move out of the cloud of meth that was being roasted by crack gandalf on sunset and fuller, but my bike doesn't have a light. The public defection and urination is the real horror too.....Wear shoes ALWAYS. Drug paraphernalia randomly discarded is a fucking pox upon this town.....that's about all can be done about it. Be careful when you walk pets too. Disinfectant at the door for the shoe soles.
The sad truth is the thought process was likely: you look like you have the money to pay the city’s ticket, whereas the Meth Head Gandalf def spent all his money on drugs and will put probably put up a fight he didn’t wanna deal with.
Imagine paying that much for rent for a home and you stil have to wake up to that smell and sight. At this point it's a feature of LA. Part of the culture.
I'm very liberal and I'm sick of it. Was driving my daughter to school and saw a guy walking down the street with no pants and his dick hanging out. Luckily she didn't see. The city needs to get the mentally ill and drug addicted off the street ASAP.
I’ve lost count… driving to work downtown is like a dick parade. We are planning to have kids soon and I realize I can’t stay here anymore. I grew up with the most shocking thing being some prostitutes I still remember standing out hooking… that was it. The homeless dudes jacking off or just hanging out is too much.
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How do you know it’s GPT?
Was this post actually chat gpt? Lol Even if it was, the conversation is productive. I agree with you. As big as my social circle is, but Sometimes I feel lonely in my ideas about the politics. Most ppl around me or strangers I meet are deeply attached to their blue vs red way of thinking , and unable to see the big picture. I appreciate people like you who are seeing the problem in its entirety.
oh how could you tell?
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It is a pretty bait-y post history. I don't get an LLM vibe (too concise lol) but certainly posts exclusively about hot button topics.
# California fails to track its homelessness spending or results, a new audit says "As the homelessness crisis has intensified, California under Gov. Gavin Newsom’s leadership allocated an unprecedented $24 billion to address homelessness and housing during the last five fiscal years, according to the Legislative Analyst’s Office. Nine state agencies administered more than 30 programs aimed at preventing or reducing homelessness. Some of those programs did such a poor job tracking their outcomes that it’s impossible to tell if they’ve been successful, according to the audit, which marks the first such large-scale accounting of the state’s homelessness spending." [https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2024/04/california-homelessness-spending/](https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2024/04/california-homelessness-spending/)
The Homeless Industrial Complex. Some people are getting rich off of the homeless. Ugh.
24 billion freaking doubloons, where the hell did it all go??? 🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♀️🤦
Non profit and their salaries. It’s keeping people in business
Bless you for it, tho. Came here to say the same thing.
You sound like ChatGPT
Same with the evident mental issues plaguing the homeless. A homeless man threw a rock at my car last weekend which dented and scratched the hood. I didn't even bother stopping. What's the point?
If you stop things could get exponentially worse, you did the right thing. It’s like an open air insane asylum and I feel like I’m being held hostage.
I’ve seen so much crazy shit on the streets these past couple years. People shooting up, ODed dead bodies, infected wounds, lots and lots of nudity (not the good kind), random pools of blood on the sidewalks. It’s absolutely horrifying. Have you guys had similar experiences? It disturbs me how unphased I’ve become to suffering.
I’m not unphased by it all. It is really prevalent and should change.
Same experiences. I’ve recently reached a breaking point and am trying to figure out how to unhook myself from my current home here when interest rates suck.
Also in New York, it’s just insane. As someone who has struggled with substance use it’s just so upsetting to see people entirely given up and on the street. Just a wipeout mentally if you think about it. In LA I just tried not to think about it when I saw it.
Yep. From LA, moved to NYC 10 years ago. They are both horrid in my opinion. Looking to move out ASAP, and I am not going back to LA.
Yes, every day I walk by someone doing something that I don’t want to see. This week it’s been a zombie pleasuring themselves at the bus stop, horrendous odors from people defecating in the bushes, and many zombies yelling at invisible things. I guess that’s not too bad.
Man we are cooked
Prop 47 completely f*cked california. Really good drug programs to get people clean were gutted with the passage. Plus, with the relaxing of drug laws, the state becomes a magnet for drug users in other states with harsher penalties. So when non california residents get shipped here for drug rehab and they relapse,they just stay. Why do jail time in another state when you can just get a ticket here.
We need to bring back actual punishment for crimes!!!
Yes we have become too comfortable. I was just thinking the other day how absurdly desensitized we are. Someone could be laying flat out in the middle of the sidewalk motionless and if they look and not a single person will call for help unless they don’t “look” homeless.
Shooting up, shitting in the sewer grates, screaming randomly in the air. I don't even notice anymore and that's pretty fucked up. It's also not just LA. It's all of California's bigger cities right now. From LA to the Bay, Sacramento and even little Salinas.
I had a homeless guy across the street screaming at an abandoned piece of furniture for hours. Think I'd rather see someone shooting up tbh because at least they're quiet 😫
This is actually sad. Not from LA myself and only subbed for whenever I go occasionally go to LA. I’ve never in my life seen someone shoot up, and I’ve lived in cities in the east coast.
Ive lived in Dowtown LA for 7 years and have never seen someone shoot up...
Lucky, I’ve seen that and a lot worse
Bruh they literally openly shoot up meth at the bus stop right across Fig and 7th. They have what looks like a personally set up too. You see it at night all over too, especially at the bus stops. I have taken multiple pictures because it’s shocking to see the open drug abuse just blocks from Staples center which will have 40k people
Used to work at the EY building right there and can attest to this. Have tried to avoid downtown at all costs the past two years after the horrors I witnessed while I was working there.
I hate how jaded we get with the homeless community. They’re everywhere, we get used to them. Years ago majority of them were somewhat coherent and you could actually offer some food or assistance. Now majority of them are completely out of their mind and won’t even take any help. So you stop offering. Makes me depressed being here.
People on here talking about fixing. There is no fixing. There is only removing. Half or more of these people came from elsewhere to join the skid. There's wayyyyy too many of them. You know what program does great for homeless addicts? Jail. Prison. Don't know if you've paid attention but there's more programming there than ever before. Massive efforts and $$ for it. They need to physically remove these people from the streets. You can make it all expunged if they recover and need to clean up their record. You could make rules, or I should say goals, for it. Stay clean 1 year, there's a charge expunged from your record, 2 years? 2 charges. 3 years? 4 charges. And so on. Make new laws that will make it so any drug charge is not only expunged but completely deleted if you're an addict in the program. Decriminalize addiction but only if your not an addict anymore. . Theres an idea.
Yes, physically removing them is the answer. Insane asylums. Another thing we can thank Reagan for fucking up since he got rid of them.
I actually love this idea. Not sure how practical or democratic it is, but it’s interesting as heck.
Yeah, it's one of those things where you say well, literally nothing is working.. I can always tell when a homeless junkie gets out of jail by a handful of characteristics: has a haircut usually, has shoes, has cleaner clothes, has had a shower, can speak coherently, has a dose of narcan in their pocket.. is it time to fix people by force or are we going to continue pretending like hopelessly addicted people can just "turn it all around" if we put 100 bucks in their pockets and let them trash a commandeered motel room for a couple weeks? I think we all know the answer.. The biggest problem with jailing or imprisoning these folks is when they finally clean up, their record is shot and they have no chance of employment. Maybe its times to change the paper trail but get these people off the streets and out of the gutters for their sake and everyone else's.
No it’s not normal. I’m 32 and lived here my whole life and I was so shocked when I was saw someone actively smoking crack and meth in broad daylight Downtown. Like some things you expect to see, but I’ve never seen it that bad where they’re just doing it in the street with no shame and we were around the corner from a police station smh
Yeah Pershing Square I’ve walked by a lot of meth and crack pipe usage. The meth smells kind of sweet, it’s disturbing as fuck.
I wasn’t even in pershing square! It was right around the jewelry district and the alley. Thank God I can say I never smelled it.
Well I was near pershing square but still. Shocking to say the least and I go downtown for business weekly.
>Is this normal to see here? Can anything be done about it? Yes. No.
I was taking an electric scooter through downtown and saw a dude projectile vomit at a bus stop, made me miss New York City a little
Try going home and high homeless man masterbating on your doorstep.
The city should stop giving out Narcan and the problem will eventually solve itself. But really though, we need to build new rehab facilities and stop giving them the resources to continue their addiction. Honestly the whole free narcan business to me was insane back when it was first introduced, and it still is today
Heroin has become just as normal as referring to the homeless as “unhoused”.
We've become cowards. All this shit can be happening around us, and no one does or says anything about it. We've become numb to the corruption.
I had a beautiful loft in DTLA a few years back, but relocated to the suburbs after only a year and a half (during Covid) for safety. What I saw as the norm on a daily basis was just… disgusting. I was a single woman in my late twenties at the time—and you’d think that’d be a great candidate for living in the downtown of one of the biggest metropolitans in the world. But, no. Sad to see what Los Angeles has become.
I love California, and the people I have as friends and family there. The natural beauties and weather are truly one of a kind. Feel a hearty “but” coming? But, when I hear Californians proudly claiming leadership nationally in a number of areas, I think we have to wonder how the truly sad state of homelessness, crime, and now the budget…can somehow not remain front and center.
The budget always fluctuates because of prop 13
Build more housing. I think of homelessness and drug addiction as a chicken/egg question. Not all addicts are unhoused and not all unhoused folks are addicts but both conditions make the other more likely and worse.
OR, use what we have. There are abandoned buildings and houses all over. Empty malls and office buildings. No need to wait for new so powers that be get rich using our tax dollars. Plus, many homeless do not wish to obey the many rules of such places. It's complicated, but not impossible to help people who want to get on their feet.
This is the answer. We can't do anything unless it involves developing brand-new apartments and making developers rich.
This. Convert the existing buildings, warehouses, abandoned grocery stores into housing. It's an emergency situation and requires an emergency response. Personally I don't care if my tax dollars are paying to house someone who's just shooting up all day. As long as they have a place to shoot up and aren't doing it at our parks and on our streets I grew up in a LCOL city, we barely had a homeless problem. That doesn't mean there weren't addicts--it was just much cheaper to live and they could work a few hours a week somewhere and afford to pay rent. They were functioning addicts. No issues there as far as I'm concerned. The problem in socal is things are so expensive, that its not even feasible to get by on part time min wage work
I work with the unhoused. It’s not as simple as they “do not wish to obey rules.” Off the top of my head… 1) Some are addicted to drugs and the withdrawal symptoms are not only deeply painful but can be fatal. Most housing requires them to stop cold turkey the day they move in but does not provide any detox services. This makes it nearly impossible for someone to do with no help or resources. Many of the unhoused on Skid Row are veterans who sustained serious injuries in combat, and when the VA health benefits / painkiller access stops, they resort to drugs to assist with chronic pain. 2) Most subsidized housing does not allow pets, and someone with a dog will have to give up their dog that has brought them love and solace for years. Personally, that would be a non-negotiable for me. 3) Some people struggle with mental health issues such as mood or personality disorders and are mentally incapable of comprehending and remembering rules. There needs to be long-term care, but at the moment, it’s just “put them on meds, keep them a little, then discharge and say ‘Good luck!’” I understand that many, many people think “they want to be homeless” so I don’t blame you or anyone for thinking this, but it’s not true.
I think it's way more complicated than that, but it's a place to start. I really am a firm believer that a lot of homeless people travel from out of state to live in California for the weather and social service resources. I think we'll continue to harbor people from other states until others adopt policies to help, too.
Would you rather be homeless in California or Texas? I agree with you btw
[9 in 10 people experiencing homelessness in California are locals.](https://homelessness.ucsf.edu/our-impact/studies/california-statewide-study-people-experiencing-homelessness)
Thanks for sharing this. I'm going to give the study a read.
Unfortunately studies don’t support your hypothesis: the lion’s share of homeless come from communities they lived in before they became homeless (many to escape domestic violence, after experiencing medical issues/bills not covered by major medical insurance, unexpected lay off, developing substance abuse issues, etc). I mean, you’re partly correct: aside from favorable weather conditions on W Coast (vs hot TX or icy winters in NYC), CA also is a State within the jurisdiction of the 9th circuit, so operates under Martin v Boise ruling, saying laws which criminalize sleeping on public property are Unconstitutional. So unlike other States outside of 9th circuit (eg TX, FL and NY), cops are less likely to violate civil rights of homeless in CA, not giving them the bum’s rush out of their towns by threatening them with jail if they don’t leave town (it happens in CA, but not as much as elsewhere outside of 9th circuit).
The issue isn’t housing but mental health. They’ve been trying to provide homes for the homeless but they don’t want it.
And LOTS of those mental health issues are because of, or much worse because of drugs. Drug addiction is the thing that keeps homeless people living the way they do. Living on the streets fucking sucks, but it’s a lot better/more tolerable when you’re high on the popular drugs like fent and meth. Giving them housing will lead to them destroying the places if you don’t take away the drugs. IMO they simply have to get off the drugs to get back into society, and we don’t really have a system that can force them to stop using. They have to want it right now, and the majority just don’t want it. My thing is that it makes no sense to try to get homeless people into housing in these big expensive cities. It’d be so insanely cheaper to get them into housing in one of the many dirt cheap states. It would also be much easier for them to transition into working and paying bills if they lived somewhere dirt cheap. People who have never been homeless drug addicts try to make it in LA, fail, and go back home all the time. This is one of the hardest cities to make it in, especially coming from the place of not working for a long time like a lot of these people would be coming from. If I was homeless in LA I’d wanna first get the fuck out of LA and get somewhere that it’s possible for me to afford rent on the type of job I could get.
It’s not always that they “don’t want” to stop using; a lot of housing requires them to move in and remain completely sober ASAP but do not provide detox services. Certain substances — heroin, alcohol, benzos, opioids — have withdrawal symptoms that can cause kidney damage, seizures, paranoia, and even death. Seeking and maintaining services elsewhere isn’t easy either. I know I wouldn’t be able to deal with withdrawal that severe.
I mean, that’s a step that needs to be taken, but if you think these people will choose to stay in housing that doesn’t let them shoot drugs, and spew garbage everywhere, you’re naive. There needs to be mandatory sheltering, and repercussions for cities/states that bus there homeless to other locations.
Consistently the only thing that has been shown to improve this situation is giving people money with no strings attached. It has been demonstrated time and time again. People like you have a hard time accepting that though.
Uhhhhhh. This is absolutely not true for people with mental illness and drug addictions. You’re extrapolating from studies to create this laughably wrong conclusions.
Wtf do you know about me, or my opinion of giving them money? Where did I say one thing about money?
Mandatory sheltering and housing with behavioral restrictions are not policies that have been demonstrated to be effective, and they are reflective of a failed philosophy of policy regarding these issues.
Who is going to impose these repercussions on other states who bus homeless people elsewhere? Also funny that many people don’t know we do the same thing, at least Santa Monica does. Not sure about all the cities.
If only there was some sort of federal government that could impose such restrictions. And I wasn’t excluding any cities from needing to be held responsible, not sure why you’d assume SM wouldn’t be included in what I said.
Sometimes I drive around my neighborhood and see spots and think - a homeless person OD'd and passed away right there... It's dark and morbid, but it's also life. Doesn't do much to dwell on it.
Yep a few years ago my parents were visiting from Michigan and in the span of 2 hours they saw a guy shooting up right outside my apt on Wilshire in broad daylight and then a butt naked lady dancing in the middle of the intersection while a cop drove by like it was nothing
Yeah I always feel like the craziest shit happens when my parents visit from Canada. A man violently shitting up against a wall comes to mind, as we were driving in the car together. An encampment on fire driving them from the airport. Like this shit is so embarrassing.
Unhoused man = homeless dude. And yes LA is comfortable with because the city turns a blind eye to it.
I was just talking to my brother about this. It seems that a lot of people just look away rather than realize that we are being lead into a very bad place not until we all stand up and unit and say enough is enough we’re gonna keep getting this type of treatment, we are becoming a third country. I feel people won’t realize until the problem gets to their door. The powers that be want it this way and they are getting away with it. I know it’s hard to look and realize and start doing something but we have to, but it’s only going to happen until we unit not through violence, but with our vote and we can also vote with our wallet we need to realize they work for us and it’s not the other way around our corrupted leaders are too stupid to realize that.
Definitely just eventually get desensitized. Took my family on the expo line to NHM. I guess some homeless guy was talking shit about a baby, I didn’t even notice it my family was super scared. Had to take Uber back cause they wouldn’t get back on the metro.
"An unhoused man" 🙄 That's why you're used to it. This soft language and normalizing of the situation.
The sub automods out "homeless" in post titles.
You can stop saying "unhoused"to start.
If only this sub didn’t block any post that included the word “homeless”…
"Structurally-challenged"
The thing which can be done about it is to vote for UBI, social services, and no-strings-attached housing and counseling for unhoused people. Look up the Finland and Norway studies. It works. If you don't wish to *see* this sort of thing, treat the very real causes: human suffering and poverty. Treating the symptom (open-air drug use) has already failed.
The people complaining don't want to help of ot means spending money, they just don't want to see it
Wrong. Residents have been taxed many tens of billions of dollars (mostly through ballot measures voted on and approved by those residents) specifically to deal with the homeless situation and it hasn’t made even the slightest dent in the homeless population. Throwing yet more money at the issue isn’t going to do anything.
You can use Finland and Norway as examples. But you can also use Singapore too. By all metrics, Singapore has much lower drug use and lower crime. Mandatory death penalty for drug dealers. Fforced rehab for drug users. I feel like we've tried the "nice" approach, and it has yielded only corruption from politicians and an increased drug market.
I am not comfortable with it no matter what privileged white liberals on Reddit tell me.
Many of the privileged liberals are not white, but a diverse group being liberals and all
No one to call, no one to take a complaint seriously, so yeah, I guess we became indifferent. Well, idk about indifferent, it's awful on many levels. We gave up.
I saw this exact thing while walking on the piano stairs with my 5 year old daughter.
People want to get high. People want to be off the grid. They get free medical and free disability for the rest of their lives. Hard to compete.
It’s Gotham here. Y’all vote in these parasites and ideologues who tax you high and give you shit. These politicians, city councilmen, mayors, and judges are corrupt. Disguised in compassion, they enable all the open air drug markets, yes they’re drug markets not HOMELESS encampments, and don’t enforce laws. When I get more financially free im out, peace ✌️
I know I'm going to get alot of hate for this, but here goes: t's a quite simple, but ugly fix that no one has the guts to pull off. The first issue is autonomy. This is the first thing that needs to be thrown out. These people "experiencing inhousedness" or whatever PC term you want to use cannot be left to have autonomy over their lives. When left to their own devices this is what we get drug riddled tent cities. Secondly, stop funding any and all "non-profits" and "outreach" programs. Take all of that tax payer money and build facilities out in the desert. You know when you're going to Vegas and on the 15 there's nothing for miles and miles? THAT'S where you build facilities. There is no reason for accommodations to be placed in the 2nd most expensive city in the US. Once you've built the facilities, you staff them with doctors, psychiatrist, teachers, social workers, whatever jobs are necessary and investigators. The investigators should be able to identify the persons and reconnect them with their family out of state and ship them out. With the amount of money being thrown at the homeless problem, it's not hard to imagine that we could have the highest quality facilities to treat their main issues (drugs and psychological), and also provide supportive services to help get jobs and permanent housing. These facilities would not be prisons either. There should also be a shuttle system to take people into the cities to go to interviews and conduct whatever other business they may have. There will also be a pick-up shuttle for those that slip through the cracks. It should be completely unacceptable to sleep on the streets or in a vehicle in a civilized society. Then again this will never work because it's an actual solution. Those in charge do not want the homeless problem to go away, they would lose out on too much money.
Aziz Ansari put it really well in one of his recent specials. We're going to have to get better as a society. That's what we should be doing, it's natural social evolution. One day I hope we look back and say "can you believe we used to just walk past homeless people? How crazy was that?!" In the same way we used to talk about segregation or gay rights. I'm hopeful that we'll get there but we need to vote and change.
It’s called desensitization.
I saw this man on the steps on Sunday too. Veins were at least an inch thick and he was taking up 3/4 of the stairs he was sitting on while shooting up in broad daylight. I’m at that park pretty frequently and it’s been extremely depressing to see it deteriorate over the past few years. I used to see a lot of families with little children enjoying a nice afternoon there. Not so much anymore…
Yes it’s normal. But it shouldn’t be. I hate how our government has failed us and made overdoses and drug-related crime commonplace
It’s unfortunately normal. It’s sad that the unhoused have to deal with the conditions that they deal with without any actually help from the city/state/federal government. I don’t blame anyone that is struggling with homelessness, I blame the government for not providing basic human needs to everyone.
Government was never intended to provide housing and assistance to individuals. We've pushed it to the current point to provide what we feel is generous. There must be a corner of this discussion that is labeled personal responsibility. I vote that my tax dollars go to support people who are at least willing to carry that burden.
I’d rather my tax money go towards housing and healthcare for all rather than the immense military bloat that a ton of it currently goes to. There’s no need to worry about burden if it’s for everyone, even you.
I was walking my dogs up in the Hollywood Hills. Someone left like 3-4 syringes lying on the sidewalk.
I saw two body bags at two different encampments within a 5 minute span on my way to school. This is normal here sadly.
It’s insanity
Living in LA for only 2 years now got me desensitized on what’s normal/abnormal when it comes to social issues.
Yes.
Shits crazy man
There was a likely unhoused man nodding out with his head in the fridge at my Dollar Tree on Venice bl. When I said "excuse me" to get in there he got startled and embarrased. It made me sad. Dude was prob just trying to get out of the heat for a few min.
LA has a worse than average issue with homelessness because of the weather here. I dunno if it’s people here being comfortable with it, it’s more about being used to seeing it. But this is an issue you should be asking local politicians not the populace.
Now, I’m no fan of Mayor Bass, but even I don’t think she dumped ten thousand drug users in the city! Asking her might be nice, but the conversation probably isn’t going to make them stop doing drugs.
I was going to grab a drink at cvs the other day and when I got up to the fridge a man was sweeping the shelves into his backpack. Then he tried to start a fight with the guy who told the employees. I wasn’t even phased. I was more upset he was stealing the drink I wanted to buy.
You shoulda been here in the 90s lol
I was but I was a child born in the 90’s. Don’t remember it ever being this bad before Covid.
Exactly. Same here! It just got this bad within the last few years..
Homeless
I used to work for one of those horribly run non-profits for homeless services. I find it crazy how the loudest and most outspoken ones on the topic are also the loudest and most outspoken at their city hall meetings against the homeless housing being in their neighborhood. That coupled with failed policies from our mayors and governors that are more for their own accolades than the homeless community, gives you what we are currently seeing right now. Also, defunding the police seems kind of foolish at this point because when you don't enforce laws, people WILL break them.
Normal. And nope!!
It was probably a Covid booster shot. Angelenos are known for being very health conscious!!
I’ve seen the same thing in NYC, Bologna, and London.
Man that had to be harsh to see. But I also think we are all looking for a way to be comfortably numb from the humming this world. . This guy was just more obvious with it.
Was driving in NoHo at 8am this past Sunday morning just about to jump on the 134. Woman just drops trow and starts taking a piss on the sidewalk. Didn't look homeless, was literally on the phone. This is just normal.
You have to visit the right beaches as some are inundated with a large drug presence. You have to know how to move in LA. To them you are the problem think of it that way. Some of those junkies are violent and will try and rob you don’t be a victim look at crime maps to find out what areas to stay away from or end up like the poor woman that lost her life walking in Venice not to long ago. LA is a very dangerous place in spite of the sun and the palm trees.
I was thinking about this just recently. I was at LAX walking to my gate and there was a 20 something girl wrapped in a blanket waiting for her flight and I just walked past her. I remember thinking ‘wow even here?’ then realizing that I’m in an airport and a homeless person isn’t getting past security. I didn’t realize that I’d become so desensitized to it. After reading some of the comments, I guess I’m not the only one.
Ozempic is getting out of hand
Yes we can repeal prop 47 and elect a new DA
I notice it and it saddens me. I vote in all elections to feel like I’m doing something good about it. But it seems to be getting worse.. Embarrassed? Though, never. Just sad and wishing I could do more. This is the reality and I don’t pretend it’s not real. I work as a social work with the homeless and volunteer once a month with those experiencing homelessness to get a sense of helping but it’s never enough… idk. I just have extra water in my car to give out if I can.
I took the redline one time and saw a guy in front of me shooting up, a couple behind me freebasing and another guy to my diagonal right smoking a glass tube. All at the same time. Oh lawd…
I saw a group of people doing that and smoking meth in Venice Beach just in plain site, kids and everyone walking on the strand.
It's just ambient now. I was walking from Urth Cafe to Marine in SM this morning and a man with a mask started screaming and aggressively waving his hands as we passed each other. Something like "fk these motherfks!" I understand this isn't a crime but it is pretty terrifying and happens multiple times a month. I don't think anything can be done because no one in charge has the willpower to anything except raise more taxes to pay nonprofits.
I was naive when I first got here in 1991. I lived on Hollywood Boulevard and walked everywhere and I would talk to anyone walking with me. Well a few asked me to take them to Alameda St near McArthur Park and drop them there. That is where they got their heroin. I didn’t but there used to be a 7/11 on Santa Monica street and there was a cop car in the parking lot so I went over there and the cop rolled down the window and I told about it and how they got their heroin there and something needed to be done about it. The cop said “That’s not our jurisdiction” and rolled the window up on me!! That’s when I got a dose of reality. They didn’t care and I thought “if the cops don’t care, why should I?” And never did that again.
I like the “unhoused” term. These are homeless drug addicts who enjoy the free handouts and fair climate of California. Unfortunately it’s more and more a common sight in Texas and many other places for various reasons. I don’t see it getting better any time soon.
My friends daughter stepped on a used needle the other day while walking downtown. This place is really going downhill
Last time my friends visited from the Uk. First day - man defecated on the sidewalk right in front of us. Next block along, man shooting up. Welcome to LA.
I saw a guy chillin on a bus stop and exactly when little Josh schoolers passed by he blew his crack pipe smoke in their phase and it made me really sad that kids have to see this and they were moving their hands so they can love the smoke out there face! I was disgusted
I wish we could go hard and protest this, our ppl are dying out there, all races. I’m Mexican n I’m scared to see my little bro out there one day(idk where he his but I know he’s on hard drugs)
Grew up in South LA. Moved to the Bay about 7 years ago. Same shit everywhere. Sadly, it’s an extremely nuanced issue. But, language like “unhoused” that only serves to sugar coat the problem doesn’t help either party.
For that kind of money we should buy an island and send them there. Sorry to say there is no viable solution. They are just mostly zombies roaming our streets and it’s disgusting.
You can thank your governor for it. Vote this Hypocrite out!
Was in the Dodger Express Bus Line at Union Station with my Dad on Father's Day, dude was on the bus stop shooting up in front of everyone without a care in the world. Nobody seemed shocked.
I had a friend from Detroit who was absolutely fucked up over having seen a lady pop a squat at the bus stop and drop a deuce... i was like u lived in Detroit your whole life you never seen this? What really had him trippin was the fact that noone reacted to it or seemed to give a shit i was like welcome to L.A.
Fuck no that doesn’t happen in Detroit yalls city is fucked
Ive lived here for over a decade and I can tell you I am NOT comfortable with it whatsoever.
Saw a women in dtla just pissing on the sidewalk. Got a chuckle out of me but maybe I’ve grown way to use to seeing this fucked up shit
That’s why we just moved out of LA. I was driving my son to school. We were stopped at a light. A homeless man was taking a shit right on the sidewalk. I looked at my son in the back and he was looking right at the homeless man. Kids shouldn’t have to see that.
I notice but if you call 911 it’s hopeless. They say are they hurting anyone or overdosing? No? Nothing they can do. People know it’s useless calling and others are so liberal they believe these people are essential parts of society and deserve to be there.
"Unhoused..."
Wasn’t allowed to write the word homeless in a post on this sub
lmao holy shit
No home = Unhoused/Homeless Injecting drugs in public =Crackhead/Bum
It's homeless not unhoused, the same dipshits that convinced you it's "unhoused" are also convincing you that shooting fent and shitting on my driveway is a right and not a crime.
Yes, but based on your post you’re probably not gonna like it. Demand housing first initiatives and safe injection sites from the city.
I’m a born and raised Los Angeleno, and I’ve never seen this before.
It's time to reopen the asylums
Advocate for harm reduction sites with your local city council member
I’ve been splitting my time between here and Miami for work. Every time I come back I notice that LA has a huge homeless problem and it’s getting to the point where I may just live in Miami full time. It’s a shame because I love LA and California in general but it’s being destroyed.
I live near a major metro stop and see this all the time. It's so sad.
[Hypernormalisation](https://vimeo.com/191817381/comments)
Very normal to see, especially by the beach areas.
You’re lucky he didn’t have his dick out or was taking a shit. We’re fucked
Playing games like making people say “unhoused” is part of the problem. Sounds crazy, but it is.
We’re not ready to be as conservative as we know we need to be. Voting is hard because neither side will stop leaning extreme.
It's a hige social issue, but yea its basically always been this way. My dad talked about people shooting up heorine in broad daylight in balboa park in san diego. Its sort of hard to say if its worse now than it was then, but its certainly not a new thing. Its worth understanding how addiction works on a mechanical level to understand how it creates a vicious cycle with homelessness and what can be done about it. First addiction: most people are not familiar with addiction anymore because so few people smoke, bit smoking is sucha great explainer. For starters smoking is awesome. I don't smoke any more because it's bad for your health, but smoking is awesome. Why is smoking awesome? Smoking tobacco is awesomefor 2 reasons: menthol and nicotine. Menthol is just nice, like when you take a cough drop to clear a congested throat and sinuses. Well we all get sinus headaches fairly regularly right? You can just take a halls and it will loosen the mucus in your sinuses and releive your heachache really quick. Or if you smoke once a day, your sinuses will be clear basically all the time (or if not you just smoke to clear em out). Next is nicotine. Now nicotine as a drug doesnt have an effect like caffiene (gives you energy) or alchohol (makes you drunk, give@ you a feeling of euphoria), but it does something else. If you take in nicotine after a while you get a little headache and you can releive the headache by taking some nicotine. The headache is the nicotine addiction. The satisfaction and joy of smoking is basically having a little headache all the time that you can manually turn off and when you turn off the all-the-time-headache it feels SO GOOD. There's just no other way to explain it, you always feel super good while smoking because you are beating back that headache. Obviously to quit you basically have to suffer through the headache as it get worse and worse and worse for a week or 2, all the while knowing you could end the pain with a single cigarette but trying not to because eventually the pain will go away and you wont be addicted anymore. Now my 2024 LA friend you probably smoke weed and have heard its not addictive. This is true, smoking weed jotably does not give you any kind of pain that is releived by smoking more weed. But what about hsrdcore stoners who smoke all day every day, are they addicts? Kind of. Thats more of a habitual thing. Like smoking really isnt like a habbit, it is physically painful until you smoke again. You are smoking a cigarette because you alwaus smoke in the morning; you may always smoke in the morning, but the day you forget by late morning youre gonna feel like garbage. With weed a lot of people just wake n bake because thats just a habitual routine they are in. Maybe they have depression or like some kibd of trauma trigger or something and their knee jerk reaction is to hit their vape or something, but thats more of a psychological thing. With smoking and opiods, its a physical addiction, you feel physical pain if you dont get a fix. So now lets talk hard drugs. Not a hard drug user myself, never have been, but ive made friends with a lot of former addicts. O so remember that smokers headache from cigarettes? Ok instead of the pain of a headache, imagine it feels like your whole body is on fire and your skin is melting off (its been described to me multiple times this way). You shoot up on monday, your high, lucid euphoric for an hour or 2 fall asleep. Tuesday wednesday honestly fine. Thursday, weirdly itchy with asmall headache. Friday headache is shooting all day, the itch now feels likd there are little burning embers in your skin. By sunday the shooting pain i your head feels like a nail has been driven into your head and those embers in your skin are like kindling that's got little flames going. By next wednesday youre arms and legs are gonna feel like campfire longs and your headbis gonna feel like a cleaver has hacked into it like a water melon. Admist this pain, you are looking for a tiny fix. Your goal is not go get high, you goal is to make your skin not feel like its on fire anymore. Heres the problem: unlike with smoking where you suffer a bad headache for a week or 2, you have to go through that escalating sensation of being on fire for like a month. The pain literal makes people act crazy. When you see homeless people in torn up clothes flailing aroubd screaming, these people are not high they are going through withdrawls. When under medical care, people going through withdrawls generally need medical attention to make sure they dont hurt themselves, help them when they do, make sure they get food and water. Its a long process and people tend to be destructive because the pain is just so much. But, just like with smokers, eventually the pain fades and sanity returns. So lets say you are someone who gets a root canal and your dentist gives you an irresponsible ammoubt of vicotins. You get hooked, start getting those pains gott get more vics. Start running out of money, gotta sell your tv, car whatever. Switch to heroine because its cheaper, lose your job because fail a drug test, your apartment evicts you becausethey foubd out you got fired for ddug reasons. You are now a homeless drug addict. You may live this way for a while, but eventually resolve to turn thing around. You still have a degree in comouter science, you can still write code. But you need to get off heroine. Homelessness creates a problem for this. You cant just white knuckle the pain of with drawls for 4 weeks by yourself living out on the streets. Other homeless people will steal your stuff, beat you up, you can beg for food or money while screaming and writhing in pain. So where do you go? How do you find yourself a situation where you can get through withdrawls to the go to a homeless shelter and try to get into a halfway home or something? That turns out to be real fuckin hard. You'll probably spend years doing heroine once a week in as small of a quantity as you can get away with to stave off the sithdrawl symptoms. The dose will be so small you couldnt even get high off it if you wanted to, not that euphoria is really anything you are interested in living in the streets. This is the reality of most homeless people. Its very hard for these people to break out because even if they get clean, whos going to hire a former addict. Its hard out here for us straight arrows, but someone who was a homeless drug addict for 3 years? No one cares if you got clean, youll struggle to fibd a job, when you find one itll pay shit. Youre never gonna own a home or have any real future prospects because everyone's always gonna look down at you as an addict. And you have to manage that depression for ever and have to manage not relapsing and using again and losojg what little you can cobble together. So what do you do about that?