Why Won't Other States Learn From Seattle's Problems?

It's not a homelessness problem. That's just an outcome of the real issue. It's a drug problem. Businesses closing, people leaving the cities, police inhibited from making arrests, rampant crime.

I am glad that Rhode Island's incarceration/intervention model is working, but every legislator in every state in the nation needs to watch this, particularly if they have voted to turn their state into a drug state by legalizing marijuana or decriminalizing drugs. How many more prisons do we want to have to build? They're already filling up. How many drug-addicted homeless people will fill the streets before our legislators listen? It isn't about homelessness. It's about addiction. Legalizing the drugs only exacerbates the problem.

This is further evidence that we need to support our local law enforcement and local D.A.R.E. Programs so that we can put the money into teaching our children that drugs are self-destructive and wrong. Do we pay for the smaller problem now and refuse the legalization of drugs or do we fork out hundreds of millions on addressing this greater issue later?