Homeless→Drugs or Drugs→Homeless

Drugs; there are many things that could be said about them. The one fact that all can settle on is when drugs are taken illegally and inappropriately it has the potential to ruin lives. When you mix the abuse of drugs with mental issues, depression and homelessness the end result is devastating.

There are two different ways to how this story begins. Drugs could cause the person to become homeless or homelessness could cause the person to turn to drugs.

An addiction to drugs and alcohol can take everything. Thirty-eight percent of the homeless population abuse alcohol and twenty-six percent abuse other drugs. People who have a severe addiction to drugs end up sacrificing all their belongings for the drug they desire. When this person comes to this level of sickness they have most likely already separated themselves from their family. The end result leads them to scraping the bottom of the barrel just to get their narcotics. Before they know it drugs have taken everything from them. There are very few facilities that address both the problem of homelessness and drug abuse and if you consider that most have mental problems as well facilities do not handle more than one condition.

Then there is the scenario of where homelessness causes the person to turn to drugs. It speaks for itself. When there is no roof over your head and no constant intake of food hopelessness begins to set in. The man/ woman will turn to either alcohol or drugs to numb their pain. There is also the case of where the victim who is homeless already has medical problems and they can't afford the proper medication so they begin to use illegal drugs to fix their conditions. One of the most important details to understand about homelessness is that there is a lack of resources. People who are discarded without a place to stay cannot go about normally caring for themselves so they turn to whatever form of help they can find. When they are at their wits end illegal drugs probably feel like the only way for those who feel they have no option.

Studies show that the main cause of death for those homeless and older than 45 is heart disease and cancer. Under the age of 44 one third of that homeless population will die of drug overdose. This is why the issue is such a cause for concern. It kills people. The story of the homeless person using the bit of money they have to feed their addiction is common, for our wealthy society, it is too common.

References_____________________________________________________________________

Abuse, National Institute on Drug. Overdose Deaths Among Homeless Persons. 18 Jan. 2013,

https://www.drugabuse.gov/about-nida/directors-page/messages- director/2013/01/overdose-deaths-among-homeless-persons.

Coalition, National. National Coalition for the Homeless.

http://www.nationalhomeless.org/factsheets/addiction.html. Accessed 17 Aug. 2017.