Pubdate: Thu, 25 Dec 2014
Source: Honolulu Star-Advertiser (HI)
Copyright: 2014 Associated Press
Contact: 
http://www.staradvertiser.com/info/Star-Advertiser_Letter_to_the_Editor.html
Website: http://www.staradvertiser.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5154
Author: Sadie Gurman, Associated Press

COLORADO'S POT LEGALIZATION DRAWS HOMELESS TO DENVER

DENVER (AP) - Chris Easterling was sick of relying on drug dealers in 
Minneapolis when he needed marijuana to help ease the pain of 
multiple sclerosis. They were flaky, often leaving the homeless man 
without the drug when he needed relief the most.

So he moved to Denver, where legal pot dispensaries are plentiful and 
accessible.

Easterling is among a growing number of homeless people who have 
recently come to Colorado seeking its legal marijuana and who now 
remain in the state and occupy beds in shelters, service providers say.

While no state agency records how many homeless people were drawn by 
legal weed, officials at homeless centers say the influx they are 
seeing is straining their ability to meet the needs of the increasing 
population.

"The older ones are coming for medical (marijuana), the younger ones 
are coming just because it's legal," said Brett Van Sickle, director 
of Denver's Salvation Army Crossroads Shelter, which has more than 
doubled its staff to accommodate the increase.

The shelter did an informal survey of the roughly 500 new 
out-of-towners who stayed there between July and September and found 
as many as 30 percent had relocated for pot, he said.

Shelters in some other parts of the state said they haven't noticed 
the problem or haven't surveyed their residents about it.

Colorado's homeless population and its marijuana dispensaries are 
both concentrated in Denver, which could be why shelters say they are 
experiencing a more noticeable rise.

Other factors could be driving the rising homeless rates. Colorado's 
economy is thriving, but the number of affordable homes and 
apartments is shrinking.

Julie Smith of Denver's Road Home, a city plan that aims to end 
homelessness, said the city's rising overall population could be a 
reason for an increase in the number of homeless people.

She said the agency has heard anecdotal reports about homeless people 
moving to the state for the marijuana, but officials don't have any 
numbers to support that assertion.

The city is eager to see the results of a study by Metropolitan State 
University of Denver's Criminal Justice and Criminology Department of 
issues related to legal marijuana, including any correlation between 
legal marijuana and rates of homelessness.

Assistant professor Rebecca Trammell said the researchers did 
interviews with shelter employees and volunteers after hearing 
anecdotes about the problem, but have no preliminary findings.

Many of those staying in shelters come to Denver with big plans and 
find they can't make ends meet, said Tom Luehrs, executive director 
of the capital city's Saint Francis Center.

The shelter has seen an increase to 780 people a day this year from 
730 people a day in 2013, and as many as 300 new faces a month. Not 
all of them are pot-smokers, Luehrs said, but many have said they 
were drawn to the state because of legal marijuana.

Shelters in Washington state haven't experienced a noticeable influx 
since that state's legal recreational sales started in July. Capt. 
Dana Libby, Seattle Social Services director for the Salvation Army, 
said the economy is largely to blame for the high rates of homelessness there.

The Denver area is seeing younger homeless people, too.

Urban Peak, which provides services for those ages 15 to 25, says it 
saw 829 people between May and July at its drop-in center, up from 
328 during the same time period a year earlier.

About a third of this year's newcomers cited legal weed as a factor 
in moving to Colorado, said Kim Easton, the director.

Many of the older men, like Easterling, live exclusively on 
disability benefits and use them to buy pot, as there's nothing to 
stop someone from using welfare benefits to obtain cash to use at pot shops.

"I'm staying here," he said, between puffs on an electronic smoking 
device filled with pot oil. "This is my home."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom