Barbara Spike: Homeless problem: See the people, then find the solution

To The Daily Sun,

I read the letter to the editor “Shocked at information ... homeless forum” in the 11/18 issue. Doug Lambert's comments showed how unaware people can be about issues they themselves don't experience.

First, about the “drug paraphernalia” being handed out. This apparently is not done in a controlled environment but looks to be given on a “to go” basis. Doing it this way will, of course, lead to unsupervised “tossing” of empties anywhere. The original idea for handing out new, clean needles and such was started help reduce unnecessary illness, infection and death. This idea was probably extrapolated from Berlin, Germany's work. Here is one article in 2016 to explain more: nhpr.org/nh-news/2016-08-30/special-series-through-the-looking-glass.

“Berlin’s lead detective within the Narcotics department, Michael Wulfert, can vouch for this. He says the city’s officers are trained not to treat addicts as criminals.

“Addiction is not a crime it is a disease, you know. And we got to adapt ourselves and our work to this philosophy," Wulfurt says.” There's more, so please read it entirely.

The main reason for this letter is the homeless problem. Did anyone try to figure out the makeup of this population?

1. Who is the person?

2. What is their background, education level, employment history, skill level if in the trades?

3. Is the person physically disabled, have mental health problems; need medical attention?

4. How did they become homeless? Did their landlord force them out; building destroyed; rent raised astronomically, kicked out of family, etc?

5. If working, were they fired due to attrition, position sent offshore or disappeared?

6. If substance abuser, what is the mental illness behind it? There's no chance of recovery until the underlying mental illness is diagnosed and treated.

This is where to start: See the people and then find the solution.

Barbara Spike

Plymouth