zlacker

Drug addiction is best treated as a public health issue, not a criminal one. You're just observing the effects of a lack of rug sweeping.

>>frostb+(OP)
At what point does "treating it like a public health issue" start to impede on public safety?

>>frostb+(OP)
Stealing bikes and breaking into cars, or worse, to buy drugs, is when it becomes a criminal issue.

>>remark+c
It's more that not treating it (drug addiction) as a public health issue impedes on public safety.

Supervised injection sites, housing first integrated support, access to effective medicine (methadone), etc. are all stymied by various flavors of political problems.

What you're seeing is the result of a patchwork approach in disarray.