Pay less now or pay more later. This cycle of addiction that drives up our homeless numbers.

The below article points out that prevention and treatment of addictions to alcohol and other drugs is under funded while we pay for the results ten fold. We have a teen drinking epidemic and are graduating our next homeless people at alarming rates. 7,000 teens or tweens as young as 9 are taking their first hit of alcohol today...7,000 more tomorrow...and then the next day. Alcohol is the number one gateway drug to other narcotics so there you also have the main source causing the demand for illegal drugs, right?

When are we going to figure this out? This year the Okie legislators cut some treatment and prevention programs all together...WTF? Feed the problem? Really?

Cost of homelessness in Oklahoma City tallied at nearly $29 million

A yearlong study has found the cost of serving the homeless in Oklahoma City is about $28.7 million a year, which works out to about $57 for every city resident.

The study was conducted by a private consultant on behalf of the city as part of a long-term effort to reduce homelessness. It tracked costs in a variety of areas, from keeping the doors open at local emergency shelters to medical costs and police response.

The study found the largest part of that cost went toward beds at emergency shelters, about $8.7 million a year. Planning Director Russell Claus said that's a problem because emergency shelter beds are far more expensive than other solutions.

"We are providing 812 beds per night every night of the year at a cost of about $30 a night," Claus said. "Emergency shelter beds are a lot more expensive than transitional housing, which is about half that cost. It adds up fairly quickly."

Providing permanent housing costs about 20 percent less than emergency beds.

City officials and homeless advocates agree the city has fallen into a trap of spending money reacting to the problem rather than preventing it.

"We only spend $107,000 on case management," Claus said. "That's the system we use to keep people out of emergency shelters. We would like to shift those around."

Tom Jones, chief executive of the City Rescue Mission, said many people have a misconception that shelters merely provide a bed and a hot meal.

Jones said City Rescue Mission offers substance abuse treatment and access to legal help and social services, among other things."


Read more:

http://newsok.com/cost-of-homelessness-in-oklahoma-city-tallied-at-nearly-29-million/article/3492388?custom_click=headlines_widget#ixzz0ymZE5okl

So let me get this straight..

You have said that testing for drugs in the workplace is unconstitutional, now you go on a rant wondering why we don't spend more to treat drug related addiction..

Hmmm.. Very interesting and rather contradictory positions..

I would argue that testing for and then treating the addiction while the person is still employed is a better solution than waiting until they are homeless..

Also, workplace testing is a deterrent. If I have a good job that I know I will lose if I test positive for an illegal drug, I'm not going to put myself in a position to lose that job.

That is personal responsibility. Something that is rather lacking in our society these days..

Let me make this clear.

This is all about prevention...(also treatment) but this state does squat about preventing alcoholism and other health related addictions.

This has nothing to do with adult drug testing. It's up to the adult to decide what they want to put into their bodies...hell I also object to the drug war as well...it's all BS. What we CAN do is use prevention to lower the number of addicts...eh, re-read the initial post again.

I think I was clear the first time...

what methods of prevention would you vote to implement?

Not really..

Yes to teen prevention, but anything goes when they become adults..

interesting..

I don't think that is going to work very well..

What won't work well? Prevention? Treatment? Then give up?

Why do we allow the drug alcohol to be advertised on TV? Why is their drug product not labeled as a drug? Aspirin has a Drug Facts label...why not alcohol?

It's just weird to me we allow Big Alcohol free reign in selling their drugs...big Alcohol makes about $20 Billion a year on teen and tween consumption...then WE pay about $60 Billion JUST from teen drinking for police, ems..er...etc. not to mention the costs of lives and the suffering families endure...

Why are parents the most likely to buy if for their kids?

We need PSAs like the anti-smoking people get away with... CALL alcohol a "drug"...would love it if their ads had to say "please DRUG responsibly"....lol. Those slimy bastards..I once actually smacked one of their lobbyists with a rolled up newspaper at a THM I spoke at...ripped on him while on mike as well...that was funny, the guy had NO argument...I made him look like an ***.

It's just weird.