Even if a judge court orders an addict to get treatment, some of them would simply choose to not go, which would mean jail. The system is so stressed because of cases like these that the police can’t always track these people down.
In my city, the DA is seizing people’s homes because of drugs.
It has become nearly impossible to have someone suffering from mental illness committed. A judge may court order them to take their medications and go to counseling, but a lot of patients don’t believe they have a problem and still refuse medications and therapy. In rare cases a judge or physician can order a patient to be committed to a mental hospital, but the maximum amount of time allowed by law is three days. A lot of patients promise to take their medications and go to therapy upon release, but the majority of them stop their medications and won’t go to therapy for various reasons. medications have side effects and many patients refuse to believe they have a mental illness.
Even if a parent finds an apartment or place for an addict to live outside their home, the addict will proceed to trash the place and get evicted. They may harass other tenants or start fights which leads to eviction. If that goes on his or her record, it becomes difficult to find a place to live. Because of how much rent has increased, the majority of parents cannot afford to arrange for their loved one to live elsewhere. Even in the slums, rent is $1,000 a month in my city. The average monthly rent for a decent, safe place is $1,300.
Some parents on this forum have purchased homes for their adult children who destroyed the property. Drugs or heavy alcohol use can lead to total inebriation, which means mattresses become toilets. Violent people punch holes in the walls and tear up furniture. Drugs change the brain chemistry, so some addicts will use the sofa to extinguish a cigarette. They fall asleep with the front door wide open which leads to theft.
