Suppose free tents and hypodermic needles not only waste your tax dollars, but also lure more addicts to your town?

[i]Photo above - Seattle has the iconic "Space Needle". Portland gives away thousands of this kind of needle, then picks them up daily. Would like a free tent to go with that, sir?[/i]

Multnomah County. I had to google this. It’s actually Portland, and the surrounding suburbs. Angry citizens asked that the county government distributing free tents to the ongoing influx of homeless. And stop handing out truckloads of free hypodermic needles too.

The county government agreed.

The link at bottom doesn’t say HOW MUCH was spent on the free tents and needles. Only that 6,500 tents were given away, and apparently 12,000 were abandoned on sidewalks, in parks, etc. This resulted in MORE money being spent for removal and cleanup by municipal sanitation workers. And sweep up those piles of used hypodermic needles too, please!

When I think about my own community, I might possibly be persuaded that tents could be used as an immediate crisis solution, especially if homeless women and kids were involved. But only if busloads of out of staters weren't pouring into my town attracted by our generosity. WTF !!!! Addicts do need help. Sending them on cross country bus excursions to score drugs and free needles is not "help". This isn't Hamsterdam.

The good news is that Portland citizens paid attention, and the county government did act on their concerns.

The bad news is that someone in the county ALREADY had data about the abandoned tents and needles, and how much it was costing first to give then away, and then pick them up and haul them to the municipal incinerator. And they didn’t care. Programs like this only perpetuate dependency and attract new homeless from elsewhere. It's job security for whoever runs the needles 'n tents program.

I’m just sayin’ . . .

~Portland homelessness: Multnomah County halts purchase of tents, tarps amid debate (koin.com)~