Trump order could put brakes on homeless hotel paraphernalia wagons

A few weeks ago, I wrote about a harm reduction organization that visits Fusion Studios, the homeless hotel in Denver where I live, once a week. They pass out needles as well as meth pipes, crack pipes and tooter kits (for those who snort drugs).

I wrote how I find this practice absurd given that most everyone at Fusion is struggling with substance abuse problems. In fact, I think it’s sinister.

Apparently, President Trump agrees. In his new executive order regarding homelessness Trump writes:

“With respect to recipients of Federal housing and homelessness assistance that operate drug injection sites or ‘safe consumption sites,’ knowingly distribute drug paraphernalia, or permit the use or distribution of illicit drugs on property under their control:

· The attorney general shall review whether such recipients are in violation of federal law, including 21 U.S.C. 856, and bring civil or criminal actions in appropriate cases.

· The secretary of Housing and Urban Development, in coordination with the attorney general, shall review whether such recipients are in violation of the terms of the programs pursuant to which they receive federal housing and homelessness assistance and freeze their assistance as appropriate.

So, does this mean the paraphernalia wagon will stop coming to Fusion and other homeless hotels in Denver? It seems to be in clear violation of Trump’s order. It almost seems like this part of the order is written specifically for cities like Denver where harm reduction programs are robust. The idea behind harm reduction is that by passing out clean needles, drug users reduce the risk of HIV and hepatitis C transmission. As for the free crack and meth pipes, the belief is that smoking drugs is less harmful than injecting them.

Making people take their meds

I also have written about people in my building who are profoundly disabled by addiction and/or mental illness and who refuse treatment. I believe treatment should be mandatory for people living in homeless hotels, above all for the safety of the residents. I was assaulted by a resident in an apparent drug-induced rage.

Again, Trump agrees. The order declares:

“The secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall, as appropriate, take steps to require recipients of federal housing and homelessness assistance to increase requirements that persons participating in the recipients’ programs who suffer from substance use disorder or serious mental illness use substance abuse treatment or mental health services as a condition of participation.”

But the order goes even further, and some aspects of it are concerning to me. For example, it allows and may even requires the “recipients of federal funding for homelessness assistance to collect health-related information that the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development identifies as necessary to the effective and efficient operation of the funding program from all persons to whom such assistance is provided.”

Further, it requires organizations receiving funding “to share such data with law enforcement authorities in circumstances permitted by law and to use the collected health data to provide appropriate medical care to individuals with mental health diagnoses or to connect individuals to public health resources.” Why would the police need to know my diagnoses? This creates a pathway for stigma and abuse.

Institutionalization a good idea

I probably never would have sought mental health treatment when I was homeless. I ended up being roused by police while sleeping along the river. A struggle ensued. I was charged with felony assault on a police officer, yet I was the only one covered head to toe in blood after the incident. I was deemed by the courts “incompetent to proceed” and placed in the state mental health institution at Pueblo – exactly the kind of thing Trump wants to do for homeless people who refuse substance abuse or mental health treatment.

I’ll be criticized for saying this, but I believe Trump’s plan to institutionalize many of these people shows true compassion. Allowing them to flounder while you supply them with drug paraphernalia is a death sentence. Their stories almost never end well without substance abuse or mental health treatment. Many of these people do not comprehend that they need help and never will seek it themselves. Institutionalization is a good idea.

Room for abuse a valid concern

Of course, the room for abuse is a valid concern. Taking away someone’s freedoms because they’ve been deemed psychotic and a danger to themselves or others is serious business. I began to be admitted to mental institutions on mental health holds from the moment I began to talk about political corruption among the Democrats in my hometown in Illinois. These were very valid concerns, even if I was profoundly upset and probably came off manic and deranged. I was scared. Suffering from untreated schizoaffective disorder bipolar one type, I thought the voices I heard were very real, and I believed I was in danger. Throwing me into a mental hospital completely discredited my story. I became more psychotic the first few times I was hospitalized. The repeated hospitalizations, in my mind, were part of a grand conspiracy that made me extremely angry.

One can only hope that mental health professionals who decide under Trump’s order that someone should be institutionalized don’t discredit any trauma the homeless person has experienced. Trust me, these people have already been through hell. Being institutionalized should mean compassionate treatment that offers a path to healing. It shouldn’t be punitive, as homelessness is not a crime.