"For those who did use drugs in the last six months, 40% of people started using — more than 3 times a week — *after* becoming homeless." www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
This has been known for decades. The first study on it was done in the early 1990s. I remember remarking that it made sense—the only thing worse than being homeless was being homeless and stone cold sober.
Good read. I knew some homeless folks stayed up all night due to fears of thieves or assaults, and that’s why you see people sleeping at 11am in the baking sun. Makes sense some of them would also use meth to help them stay up.
wow Ned, are you saying that the trauma of homelessness is harmful to people’s mental health & that many of them self medicate in unhealthy ways with drugs?
I always get downvoted into oblivion whenever I point this out on r/Portland.
I probably used more weed & alcohol during the four years I was right on the brink of homelessness than I did in all the years previous, otherwise I'd have been even more paralyzed with anxiety than I was.
