No.Nonsense.

I had a different topic planned for today until I took a drive thru my city this morning. And my heart broke.

My home, like many others, is experiencing a crisis of drug use and homelessness. We’re a beautiful city with lots of opportunities. And, yet, we have tents on the side of the road, people in the downtown parks who are obviously in the throes of a drug-fueled episode, and panhandlers on the corner at every major intersection.

We have shelters but not enough.

We have rehabilitation programs to help but not enough.

We have affordable housing but not enough.

There is a debate now about a needle exchange in the city. I’m not sure if this is the answer. We do have an epidemic of hepatitis C due to intravenous drug use. But do we help the situation by giving them needles? Maybe if it was connected to getting help with the addiction it would be a good thing.

But even as I write this, I know that it’s just a dream. Ultimately, those tweakers on the side of the road have to want to get help. The police are already overstretched so they can’t stop everyone who is using in a public space. They disbanded the tent city under the bridge at one of the main intersections downtown but that just means those who were sleeping there move into the trees. We have had bodies found dead behind buildings. We have had abandoned buildings that have burned down.

There are needles as you walk down the street. Every part of the city, now moving outside its limits, you see tents and trash. You have to constantly have your head on a swivel because you don’t know who is walking near you. You lock your doors as you drive to the grocery store. You lock your doors when your car is in your own driveway.

Last night we drove into a very nice apartment complex that had literally been built around a homeless encampment.

We’ve always had a homeless problem but it’s never been to this degree. The past few years have seen a spike that is overwhelming my city. And it’s the same story in every city in the country.

I don’t have an answer to this problem. I don’t think anyone does. What I do know is that local, state, and national leaders have to start seriously having the discussions. We need funding and programs. We need to make rehabilitation services available to the masses. We need more federally qualified health centers who are willing to bring affordable healthcare to those who would not have it otherwise. We need more funding for shelters. And, I hate to say it, but we need cities to get serious about enforcing the laws that prevent people from sleeping on the sidewalk and taking drugs in the park.

Unless we get serious about trying to fix this crisis, it will continue to overwhelm the places we love.