Drugs and Homelessness:A Look Into Portlands Homeless Population & Drug Addictions

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Drugs and Homelessness:A Look Into Portlands Homeless Population & Drug Addictions 



The homeless population over recent decades have begun to grow exponentially here in the downtown area of Portland. As somebody who lives in the heart of this city I see drugs, homelessness, and death on the streets weekly. Almost every night you can hear gun shots, somebody screaming, or a police siren. It has become extremely apparent that our homeless population has grown, and with that so has drug addictions 

Drugs seems to be one of the most, if not thee most, important aspect to people becoming homeless. After I built the courage I finally walked across the street and decided to interview some of the local homeless campers and why they are living this way, and after that it became very clear to what drove people to this lifestyle. It was drugs, lots and lots of drugs and everyone I interviewed was perfectly okay with admitting that. 

One of the most heart breaking things about my interviews was that none of these homeless people wanted any help or change in their lives. All of them admitted that the reason they chose the streets was because it was easier to enjoy a life of heroine. Some of these people used to be business owners, war veterans, and students. As I continued to interview these folks one person stuck out to me the most, and his name was Robbie. He told me that he used to be a manager at a store and lived a simple life with a college degree and a house, but his reasoning to becoming homeless was that he didn't want to be tracked. he just wanted to live a care free life, not get any help from any shelter, and just do drugs because it was fun. 

Overall my interviews were very eye opening, especially as I would talk to someone as they were "shooting up" a syringe full of heroine. I am still very curious to what other reasons caused people to choose this lifestyle, so I must venture off into the streets of Portland and try to gain an understanding to why someone would stick to this. 

Tune in next week for more real stories about Portlands homeless population and why they chose this life.

To learn more about the efforts that Portland are doing to help improve the homeless situation click the link below for more information.

https://www.tprojects.org/



-Perez

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