HOMELESS IN DRUGS EPIDEMIC

Addiction Figures For Street Sleepers Beyond 'Worst Dreams' Of Experts

Four out of five homeless people in Britain are regular drug-users - and
almost half have used heroin or crack in the last month. The figures, far
higher than previously acknowledged, have shocked homelessness experts.

'We were aware of drug use among people we work with,' said Shaks Ghosh of
Crisis, which commissioned the research. 'What we never expected, in our
worst dreams, was this level of use and addiction.'

One in four of Britain's homeless use cocaine or ecstasy, researchers
found. One in three use tranquillisers. Only 4 per cent do not use either
drugs or alcohol at all.

James Edwards has been homeless in London for more than 10 years. Now 32,
he has been a heroin addict for almost all of that time. 'I've been trying
to get off it time and again,' he said. 'But when you finish rehab, there's
no aftercare. The last time I tried to get help they told me there was a
six-month waiting list. In most cases, you just end up in a hostel with
lots of other junkies.'

Not only are two in three heroin users among the homeless taking the drug
on a near-daily basis. But the study found that drug dependence rose
steadily the longer a person remained homeless. If a housing crisis lasts
more than three years, there is a two-in-three chance that the person
involved will have become dependent on their main drug of choice.

Tim, a 46-year old former soldier who has lived on London's streets since
he left his family six years ago, said: 'I've tried to stop drinking. I had
a temper the last time. Because of that they wouldn't let me go back to my
hostel. You just end up here again with people drinking.'

Large numbers of the homeless say they do not use services such as night
shelters or hostels because of the high levels of substance use, violence
and chaos they encounter there.

The research will exacerbate concern that it may be almost impossible for
homeless people to kick addictions to drugs or alcohol. 'On a typical day,
four in five spent time with other homeless people, and half said these had
similar levels of drug use to their own,' Jane Fountain of the National
Addiction Centre, which carried out the Crisis study, said.

The research will confirm the view of the Government's controversial
'Homelessness Tsar', Louise Casey, that money given to beggars is often
spent on drugs. In the run-up to Christmas 2000, Casey launched a campaign
encouraging people not to give money to street sleepers. Many charities,
including Shelter, distanced themselves from the initiative.

Campaigners are calling for a boost in provision for the treatment and care
of homeless drug-users. In spite of the levels of addiction disclosed by
the survey, only one in seven alcoholics had received help for their habit
in the four weeks prior to interview.

Needle exchange was a popular service for drug addicts, but just 3 per cent
had been in a detox unit in the last month. More than half of alcoholics
seeking help had not received any in the previous year.

'Getting a vulnerable person with an acute mental health problem to
recognise that they have an addiction is not simple,' Ghosh said. 'When a
person turns that corner and decides they are determined to become clean,
it's a major step forwards. But finding out that help is not available is a
crushing blow that can leave a person bitter and uninterested in coming off
drugs.'

Crisis researchers interviewed 400 homeless people at length who were
either sleeping on the streets or temporarily living in hostels or
emergency accommodation.