The Failures of "Harm Reduction" on Drugs, and "Housing First" on Homelessness, with Jason Rantz

Let's talk about the drug problem a bit, because you write about Oregon, not far from where you're living, and how they tried drug decriminalization. This is all the rage in the progressive communities. Like, let's just make it all legal. Heroin, whatever you want, it's fine, and we're actually gonna help you. We're gonna help you do it safer. That's what they want, like a more safe alternative for people who are addicted to drugs. So how did that work out? Oh, it didn't. And they're still doing it, of course. So this is one of those terms, again, that I think sounds great on paper, and it's called harm reduction. Now, if I went outside and I asked just 10 random people if they ever heard of the term, could define the term, 10 out of 10 would tell me no. They would have no idea. And yet, this is the policy that is in place, not just in Oregon, but all across the country. It's been adopted by the Biden administration as well. It's a form of drug treatment, they claim, in which they make it safer to consume an illicit substance. And their argument is, if we can keep the addict alive long enough to get treatment, he or she will finally do so. So let's give them a clean needle so they're not spreading blood-borne disease. We'll give them a crack pipe or a booty-bumping kit, which I get to in the book. I love saying that in front of 3 million Americans on Twitter. It is dark. I did not know about this thing. I know. It is dark. It's exactly what it sounds like, and it's internal. Let's just talk about, let's just say that. Don't Google any photos or videos of that. But they're saying, let's give away these tools, and then eventually we'll be able to treat these people. On paper, that sounds great. In reality, they don't do any treatment. They don't put money into treatment or detox at all. There's never any pressure to push people into treatment or detox because they believe that any kind of judgment is stigmatizing against the user, and so they don't want to do anything. As a result of that, we have seen record high numbers of dead addicts all across the country. We've seen, just today, there was a report came out that I believe it was 31 states saw an increase in fentanyl overdoses year over year, and keep in mind, the last two and three years, we've seen record highs. Oregon is going in the complete wrong direction. This was passed by voters, Measure 110. I get through some of the data in the book, but essentially, you're given the opportunity as someone who ends up getting ticketed for an illicit substance abuse. You can avoid paying the ticket so long as you call this number on the back of it to get some sort of treatment. Well, guess what? They didn't show up to court and they didn't call up the number, and it's been a total failure. Washington State did virtually the same thing. It went about it a little bit different way. They finally just walked it back because in Seattle and King County, we've seen an historic rise of overdoses. A lot of it is driven by fentanyl. Some of it also is meth. To give you a sense of how bad it is in the Pacific Northwest, there was a study by the University of Washington that came out about three or so weeks ago, and they tested the surfaces and the air of our metro systems, our transit. 100% of the air had meth in it. Oh my God. Had meth smoke detected. 98% on surfaces. It was a little bit less on fentanyl. I think that's a little bit having to do with the way that fentanyl is consumed. But 100%, I mean, just think about that for a second. 100%, and by the way, they have the gall to tell us, oh, it's totally safe to continue to take transit. Don't worry, stop complaining. But the fact of the matter is, that obviously indicates a problem with drug abuse. And you can track the data so clearly, because back in 2018, our prosecutor in King County, which is where Seattle is located at the time, said, we're no longer going to charge for personal possession. We're no longer going to consider that a criminal justice issue. Well, guess what happened? Number one, the drug dealers stopped carrying as much product on them. They were carrying personal possession amounts. So in case they were stopped by a cop, they can get out of it. Number two, the cops no longer had any leverage over an addict to turn on the drug dealer, because before they could say, look, I'm going to throw you in jail. You're going to detox over the weekend in jail unless you give me information on your drug dealer. Well, they no longer had to do that. And all of a sudden, you've got open-air drug use all over the place, and people are dying in record numbers. Every single year since 2018, we've seen a historic high overdose rate, every single year. When you look at Philadelphia, same thing. You read about this in the book. In Oregon, after this, fatal overdoses, you just alluded to it, surged 76% from 2011 to 21 with fentanyl driving the numbers. Just between 2020 and 2021, fentanyl-related fatal overdoses rose 83%. I mean, that is shocking. What an F, a total failure. Just to remind our audience, my guest is Jason Rantz, R-A-N-T-Z, and the book is, What's Killing America Inside the Radical Left's Tragic Destruction of Our Cities. And you lay it all out. The other thing you get into, and we touched on it, but like the homelessness problem, how they think the solution is housing. Let's just get housing, and everything will be better. Yeah, it turns out that that's actually not how it works because they were not born homeless. They had a home at one point, and then they ended up on the streets. And it's very similar in the way that harm reduction is being used. There's another policy out there, a strategy called Housing First. And again, I can ask anyone what it is, no one would be able to define it. And yet, that is why we have a crisis of homelessness in this country. Housing First says we're going to put people without any conditions into subsidized housing. And usually they're waiting for either, now they do homeless hotels, but also just your standard studio apartment. And that's been one of the reasons why we don't see a lot of sweeps in Democrat-run cities. They don't want to sweep these homeless encampments, all these tents, until you have a home for them, because apparently it lacks compassion to let people live surrounded by human waste and use needles and trash. And so you would at least on paper say, okay, maybe that does work. And we often hear people say Salt Lake City did this, and they got to functional zero homeless population. Well, that's not true. And I did the research. I ended up committing an entire chapter just to Salt Lake and the Housing First myth, because it was a total failure. They did not look at the right numbers. They, I think, intentionally misled the public as to the impact of their policy. And it's gotten worse, homelessness, ever since. But the biggest issue with Housing First is there's never any kind of mandate that the individual get treatment for whatever it is was the underlying cause of their homelessness. So let's say it was drug addiction, which is leading a lot of it. Well, you can just continue to use drugs while in the subsidized housing. That doesn't help them. It doesn't help them at all. And of course, they're not just staying in their home. They're still going out into the community. They're still committing crimes in order to pay for their drug of choice. But the only people who end up benefiting are the ones who run these programs, the homeless industrial complex. And it sounds kind of like conspiratorial when I put things in that phrasing, but these are people who get paid to care for the homeless who never go on their own, who never get onto their own path. And so they're incentivized. Whether or not they're doing this intentionally, I don't generally think that, but it's gotta be a subconscious bias there. The longer they're in subsidized housing, the longer these people are employed, the more money they get. And despite showing very few success stories, they keep getting larger budgets because behind the scenes, they're cozying up to politicians at the local or state level, and they're just getting more funds funneled into their programs. This show is supported by Grand Canyon University. Founded in 1949, GCU is a private Christian university that's dedicated to delivering an affordable and transformative higher education. Their vibrant campus is located in beautiful Phoenix, Arizona and according to niche.com, it's ranked a top 25 best campus in the country. As of June, 2023, GCU offers 330 academic programs with over 270 online, allowing you the freedom to earn your degree on your time from wherever you are. Their programs are also designed to challenge and inspire you. At GCU, your degree, whether it's a bachelor's, master's or doctorate, integrates the free market system and a welcoming Christian worldview. And they believe that higher education should be accessible to all. Learn more about GCU's programs, competitive tuition rates, and scholarship offers from your university counselor. They're part of the supportive graduation team who will take a personalized approach to helping you achieve your academic goals, walking alongside you every step of the way. Find your purpose at Grand Canyon University, private, Christian, affordable. For more information or to enroll, visit gcu.edu. 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