Whether a person is homeless as a result of a spiraling drug problem, or abusing drugs to cope with life on the street, homelessness and addiction are inexorably linked. Feeding off each other, and on what is perhaps the most vulnerable population, they cause a tremendous amount of suffering, and fuel a public health crisis that is hidden until it isn’t, and spills over into the wider world.
Because homelessness and addiction are often so firmly linked, they must be addressed together, with a combination of services that stabilize and treat a person, then prepare them for the next step in what with any luck will be a productive life. And because addiction is such an outsized problem among the homeless, it makes sense to target them in the larger fight against opioid abuse.
