Because they’ve been priced out of legal drugs. Growing up I thought people got addicted by choice. Very few people get addicted because they fell into the wrong crowd and just partied too hard and ended up addicted. (that’s a wealthy person’s story that gets told all the time.)n the broken down drug addict you see on the streets. Likely was in foster care as a kid, had some physical or mental condition they couldn’t afford to treat, or is from a historically marginalized groups.
The numbers vary but most all agree about 50% of the homeless population were orphans. Studies also find that between 1/3-1/2 of orphans become homeless when they turn 18 and leave the shitty social network that clearly doesnt adequately help them be ready for life outside those places.
Those numbers will only get worse as we keep shifting more money to the upper class and cutting social safety programs.
US foster care system is little better than prison. Honestly, all past and current would have a good class action lawsuit against the US government.
There is also the whole thing of the CIA smuggling Cocaine into the US and fueling the crack epidemic to undermine the civil rights movement and fund fascist terrorists in Central America and fuel weapons into a brutal war in the Middle East.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIA_involvement_in_Contra_cocaine_trafficking
Obligatory System of a Down - Prison Song
