Thread by @ShellenbergerMD

“The real reason why the encampment inhabitants refuse to access the shelters is simple — the shelters have rules. One rule, in particular, keeps the encampment inhabitants out of shelters and that rule is that drugs and drug use are prohibited.”

https://twitter.com/ofcrdeonjoseph/status/1399233839050870786

The accurate word for what we call “homeless encampments” is “open drug scenes”

Around the world they threaten public safety & are only dealt with through coordinated services AND (not or) law enforcement

Science:

bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.11…

In California, politicians act helpless to deal with them

I’ve interviewed over 100 U.S. experts, politicians, and activists and none knew of Europe’s experience breaking them up

Most thought Europe had used harm reduction alone, which is false

“Homeless” is a propaganda word designed to confuse

It inappropriately combines addicts, the seriously mentally ill, with poor people who don’t have an addiction or mental illness problem

We can’t address the problem if we don’t describe what it is

In the 5 European cities, all passed through a phase identical to the one California is in now, where progressives insisted that the open drug scenes could be solved through helping services alone. After that failed, they all used a combo of services plus law enforcement

We Americans tend to be provincial and anti-intellectual and so it’s not surprising that even our leading experts are ignorant about what Europe actually did

But the urgency of the addiction, OD, and public safety crisis means there should be no more excuses

Please, if you really care about this issue, read the paper below. It’s not that long. It’s fascinating. It’s not behind a paywall. It debunks the misinformation about Portugal and the Netherlands. They didn’t legalize! They didn’t just hand out heroin!

bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.11…