Originally Posted by
Dee74 
It's an emotive issue. There's probably no right answer.
A lot of homeless alcoholics and addicts in my town die from other causes apart from drink/drugs...violence, accident, exposure, ill health....
these places, at least where I am, are not for the middle tier alcoholic - they're for the homeless, the vagrants, and those who've reached the end of their tether and may not be capable of making much in the way of rational decisions anymore.
It's not the Ritz.
Maybe it's because I'm an alcoholic myself and I can see what might have been in every homeless guy but I personally don't see that as enabling.
It's not a perfect solution, but to me it's a humane response to a pretty damn intractable problem.
D
Exactly. Wet housing is a compassionate response to a very real situation. Some people with addictions will simply never quit, and with those who are homeless (and who often suffer from mental illness as well) the choice becomes stark and simple. We can let them die on the streets, or we can provide them with safe housing.
I, for one, feel that the humane, compassionate thing to do is to provide them with safe housing.