from OP's tone I'd guess personal experience - I lived in one in my late teens/early twenties (Alberta still allowed them at the time, maybe it still does IDK). We had a guy attempt suicide in the kitchen one night. I heard after moving out that another roommate I'd been friendly with got kicked out after relapsing and getting 'back into the crack', according to the landlady's boyfriend.

It is a fact that criminals and addicts will flock towards the cheapest housing options and bring their problems with them. That's just the nature of being the cheapest option.

The main question we need to be asking ourselves is if we prefer these people do crack in those places, or on the street in makeshift camps.

The idea that if we just remove tools from poor people that they go away is patently insane. We want to... kick people while they're already down... and we expect that to help anyone?

I'd prefer they have housing somewhere to live and not in the streets! Just not in my neighborhood, man that's a mouthful, maybe NIMNH? Doesn't really roll off the tongue though...