The liberals’ approach to the homeless (addicted, mentally ill, and dysfunctional poor) is to abandon them, warehouse them and fund their addiction. The late economist Walter Williams said if you want more of something, fund it; if you want less, tax it.
The homeless phenomenon is growing and is now a billion dollar industry laden with consultants and lobbyists. How is it working out? We show more love to stray pets.
When Catholic nun Mother Teresa went to Calcutta, India in 1948 to serve the poorest of the poor she collected the abandoned sick and dying from the streets by the thousands, cleaned and cared for them to die with dignity. Her mission was to "the hungry, the naked, the homeless, the crippled, the blind, the lepers, all those people who feel unwanted, unloved, uncared for throughout society, people that have become a burden to the society and are shunned by everyone."
Yuba-Sutter Counties are throwing millions at the homeless phenomenon. The homeless even have their “grocery cart chasing” attorneys to sue counties and cities to leave vagrants alone. The liberal way is to ignore lawbreaking and self-destruction. A former Sutter County Sheriff even said that “We can’t arrest ourselves out of this problem.”
The sheriff was wrong. Former longtime Yuba County Health Officer and jail doctor Joe Cassady would remind addicts detained for a myriad of crimes that “they weren’t arrested but were rescued.”
An arrest was often the first step to getting sober, possibly drug court, treatment for communicable diseases and transfer to a rehabilitation program. Locally, thousands of lives have been saved starting with an arrest and incarceration to stop the madness. Today, hardly a week passes here without multiple overdose deaths and suicides connected to addiction.
Shaun Weiss, Disney’s “Mighty Ducks” movie star, was arrested by Marysville Police while deranged inside a garaged car. Weiss weighing less than 90 lbs., a diabetic addicted to opiates and meth, was at deaths door, wet and freezing. Instead of being cited and released, he was booked / rescued at Yuba County jail where he could get food, rest and medical attention.
After months of incarceration Judge Debra Givens sent Weiss to a rehab where a year later he is clean, stable, in good health. Patrol and then correctional officers and the judicial system along with jail medical saved his life. This is occurring every day in our community when arrests are made.
Unfortunately, due to bad public policy most homeless are allowed to trash themselves and the community while getting a citation or even ignored.
Giving addicts government funding and the freedom to use destructive substances and violate the community values is bad policy for Yuba-Sutter counties. Men and women created in the image of God with a purpose on earth can be found covered in their own feces and vomit, partially clothed and unconscious strewn from downtown to the river bottoms. It is shameful that it is allowed and funded.
It is an indictment not on those suffering in bondage, but of those in charge that lack the wisdom and will to act. Our neglect is killing the neediest among us.
The State of Rhode Island has led the way nationally in redeeming addicts by using the criminal justice system and providing treatment beginning when addicts are incarcerated. Rhode Island launched medication-assisted treatment, or MAT, for opioid addiction in its unified prison and jail system in 2016.
It is doing more than any other state to ensure that all inmates who need addiction treatment can receive the best care available. That means offering all inmates with an opioid addiction, whether they were previously in treatment or not, a choice of one of the three FDA-approved medications (Methadone, Buprenorphine, Vivitrol) plus counseling.
Research shows that MAT is at least twice as effective as abstinence-based treatment that does not include medications. In most jails, people who are using heroin, fentanyl or painkillers when they enter are forced into painful withdrawal.
The simple detox or “cold turkey” methods, even combined with motivational classes, fail 90% of the time, said Dr. Jody Rich, an addiction researcher at Brown University who studies Rhode Island’s correctional treatment program.
It’s time for Yuba-Sutter to get serious about saving lives by using law enforcement, incarceration, jail medical best practices and rehabilitation.
(See more of Lou’s articles and podcasts at nohostagesradio.com)
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