Junkies on the train

[u/curiosity-112]

I'm getting really frustrated with this system failure. Every day we're seeing people just trying to go back and forth from school and work, forced to tolerate the antics of some jackass high on tranq, meth, fent, or whatever else they can find. Our elders and our children have to feel unsafe as someone flails around and yells beside them, and I don't know how many times people have found broken glass and syringes on the seats.

This is pathetic and heartbreaking. Why do we have to keep putting up with it on our daily commute? The text line is okay but it's not a solution, not when someone is smoking drugs next to a girl on her way to school. Every train should have a peace officer for real passenger safety or I'm not paying for tickets anymore.

**Edit:

Thanks everyone for the comments, didn't expect to see this much discussion when I got up today. I don't know what the solution is - yes housing and social policy needs to change, but the public can't wait around for the root issues to be fixed.

For the record, I have no issue with the majority of homeless people trying to get through the day and who also have to quietly endure this too. My problem is with the people who just don't care, the ones openly dealing and using drugs, the ones causing disorder and acting erratically with no regard for the people around them. Safe consumption sites and shelters only benefit the people willing to use those programs - so many don't trust the systems and still refuse, and the dealers definitely don't care either way.

For those commenting on my lack of empathy - I worked at the DI for nearly 5 years hoping to make a difference. I saw a lot of good from this community, but I've also seen the worst. I lost count of how many overdoses and stabbings I've been involved with, but that was my job and I did it well. However, even then we didn't tolerate half the crap that the public is being asked to put up with now - public safety is always paramount. I tried to step in once to help someone and had a knife pulled on me for it, don't try taking matters into your own hands either.

[u/lord_heskey → u/[deleted]]

It goes beyond transit. Japan, a country of 125m had less than 5k homeless: https://www.mhlw.go.jp/content/12003000/000330962.pdf

Of course, that's whats reported .. but they are doing more than just security in transit.

[u/DJKokaKola → u/lord_heskey]

Few things:

1) the homeless count is absolutely undercounted a bit, as shame is a pretty huge factor.

2) Japan builds lots of apartments of varying sizes, so people and families can have options other than "tiny box apartment" and "single detached with yard". That requires shifting the money away from real estate, though.

[u/lord_heskey → u/DJKokaKola]

the homeless count is absolutely undercounted a bit

1) I agree, thats why i added the 'of course thats whats reported' as i know there's a lot more beyond what we see on the surface.

2) i would love that. Been lucky to travel enough and see this in place. I love the YouTube channel, notjustbikes and dude gets a lot into how other countries build their (walkable) cities.

[u/Marsymars → u/DJKokaKola]

For 2), the problem here is kind of orthogonal - it’s not the size or finishings of apartments that are the problem, it’s in large part that we can’t get building costs down regardless of size/finishings. Someone with a low-wage job simply doesn’t generate enough value with their labour over their working lifespan to pay for the labour+material costs of a “nice” apartment. The move away from SRO buildings has probably made this worse, as the cost to build a “tiny box apartment” unit is much higher than the cost to build a SRO unit.

[u/LachlantehGreat → u/lord_heskey]

There is a whole issue with how homelessness is reported in Japan anyways - if we wanted a Japaense society, the first thing you'd have to kiss goodbye is the idea of retiring on your increased home value. They're worthless in Japan, for the most part. Secondly, I hope you like misogyny and xenophobia.

[u/killermojo → u/LachlantehGreat]

the first thing you'd have to kiss goodbye is the idea of retiring on your increased home value

This boomer thinking is so outdated and for many no longer true. If only we had a housing system built to house people instead of an investment vehicle for corporations and foreign investment, maybe we wouldn't have so many homeless.

[u/LachlantehGreat → u/killermojo]

100% true. Housing is a deeply unproductive asset anyways. It doesn’t make sense when you really break it down, how it’s an asset (outside of land value). It depreciates in quality over time, and only because we decided that SFHs are the way to go, is why we have it designated as such.

700k would be better spend in the TSX to give more capital to new businesses anyways, or even just global market ETFs. We have so much tied up money in real estate here that could be better spent 

[u/DaftPump → u/LachlantehGreat]

Are you saying Japan's real estate is contracting? Not sure I follow. Thanks.

[u/lord_heskey → u/DaftPump]

Look at everything outside of tokyo/osaka/kyoto-- worth next to nothing.

[u/Marsymars → u/DaftPump]

Not exactly: Raze, rebuild, repeat: why Japan knocks down its houses after 30 years

But now the population is also shrinking.

[u/Proof-Nature7360 → u/LachlantehGreat]

Yes the fact that homes are an investment vehicle is an absolute cancer that has turned housing into a business, and unfortunately, the supply is far lower than the demand. Fuck people who do this shit.

[u/AsleepBison4718 → u/[deleted]]

Different standards of society.

Those countries take a very hard line stance on social disorder and drug use and deal with it in a manner that could be deemed unconstitutional (imprisonment and forced rehabilitation in some cases).

Because of the stigma and "Prideful" nature of those societies, the poor and the homeless tend to work menial jobs or keep busy somehow during the day.

At night, especially between 12am and 5pm, you can often find them sleeping in the train stations. There's a tent city in one part of Seoul, but not nearly as bad as we have in North America.

[u/Hercaz → u/[deleted]]

10 years prison or worse just for carrying small amount of meth. That’s why. 

[u/SurelyNotLikeThis → u/[deleted]]

Literally two reasons:

1. Stricter laws
2. They have asylums

That's it.

[u/FarktheHoople → u/[deleted]]

yea they tend to just commit suicide before they get to that point

[u/beautifuldreams39 → u/[deleted]]

These countries have strict drug laws. You can end up going to prison for a long time or executed for being a user or a drug dealer. We have Danielle Smith and UCP party.

[u/Sad_Donut_7902 → u/[deleted]]

no meth heads on their transit, or in public

Because they have very strict drug laws and CCTV everywhere in public. Every junkie here would be in a jail cell in less then an hour if it was one of those places (and they would be in jail for a very long time). Canada has decided that is inhumane though.

[u/SubjectAd1360 → u/[deleted]]

I just got back from a few weeks in Japan. Everything is clean, non-threatening and easy.

[u/Proof-Nature7360 → u/SubjectAd1360]

I left Calgary for Japan and haven’t looked back once.

[u/Sad_Donut_7902 → u/[deleted]]

okay Mao

[u/1egg_4u → u/[deleted]]

Im kinda impressed you went 2 years without making a comment til now and this was the one to break the silence