A new study finds that well under half of unhoused people in California are regular drug users, challenging public perceptions about the extent to which addiction is fueling homelessness. Only about 37% of the more than 3,200 homeless residents surveyed in the UC San Francisco-led study reported using drugs at least three times a week in the prior six months. Roughly 25% said they had never taken drugs before.
However, the statewide survey also found that nearly two-thirds of respondents reported regularly using drugs at some point in their lives, evidence the drug and homelessness crises are still clearly linked. About four in 10 respondents said they began using drugs before becoming homeless, while 23% said they only started after losing their housing. “Our research shows there is an increased risk of becoming homeless if you use drugs; and that homelessness itself increases drug use because people use it as a coping strategy,” said study author Dr.
Margot Kushel in a statement. The findings didn’t come as a surprise to Vivian Wan, chief executive of Abode Services, one of the Bay Area’s largest homeless service providers. She said that while homeless people using drugs in encampments and on city streets are the most visible to the public, there are even more waking up in their cars each morning before heading to work or going unnoticed on their laptops at Starbucks.
“When you actually see someone on a sidewalk or at a BART station who may be actively using drugs.
