Homeless crisis triggers fentanyl epidemic

The homeless are one of the biggest clients of the drug cartels. The fentanyl epidemic is related to homelessness.

The number of homeless in the US, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) was a staggering 653,104 as of January 2023, a 12-percent increase from the previous year. (Source: AI)

What causes the homeless crisis? The culprit is the rapid increase in inflation, causing rental rates to soar beyond the reach of those with pensions, especially senior citizens, who are booted out of their homes.

Homelessness is a significant issue in Las Vegas, with the most recent count showing over 7,900 homeless people in Clark County in 2024. A notable aspect of this issue is the network of tunnels under the city, which serves as clandestine quarters for thousands, and which poses health risks in terms of lack of water.

Efforts to address the problem include collaborations between local organizations like Vegas Stronger and government agencies to provide services such as mental health and treatment of drug abuse, with the goal of moving people into stable housing. The task is so enormous because the rescue institutions cannot cope with the rapid increase in homelessness.

Government deficit spending is the ultimate culprit, triggering the ongoing rapid increase in inflation. A buffet meal, which used to cost $8 a few years ago, has soared easily to $30, and is still increasing.

In 2024, Texas saw 39,208 people experiencing homelessness, with the primary causes including job loss, lack of affordable housing, and the challenges of re-entry after incarceration.

Efforts to combat homelessness include programs from the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs and the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, such as the Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) Program and the Homeless Housing and Services Program.

These programs provide support and resources, though challenges remain, including difficulties in accurately counting the unsheltered population and issues related to extreme heat and limited housing options for those with criminal records. (AI data).

Drug abuse is directly related to homelessness. The homeless seek comfort to alleviate their misery. There is today a fentanyl epidemic in many parts of the US, such as California and Texas. It is therefore urgent for the government to stop the unstoppable cartels dead in their tracks.

Stopping the Unstoppable

Recently, a combined US armed forces group took down the Sinaloa cartel of Mexico in their most daring attempt to smuggle on a massive scale all kinds of drugs from cocaine to fentanyl, using heavily armed convoys. In the past, no law enforcement group would dare face these unstoppable, heavily-armed, well-organized Sinaloa cartel convoys, until the US armed forces stepped in.

Finally, a combined armed forces team using war tactics of drones and missiles, mimicking the war in Ukraine, let the Sinaloa cartel convoy enter a “kill zone” within the US, where they were totally massacred down to the last mercenary and their state-of-the-art weapons.

This is perhaps a temporary setback for the powerful and wealthy drug cartels, as they are predicted to rise again slowly, and skirt around the war machines of the US armed forces. If the Sinaloa cartel is now non-existent, it may rise again in time. The American war on drugs is a case of a collision of an unstoppable force and an immovable object.