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Have you heard any interviews with the guy that does the soft white underbelly series on YouTube? He basically says by the time he gets to these people they are so far gone they are beyond any kind of reintegration with society at large and can at best only be warehoused.
When asked about success stories, "basically none" is the answer, once you're on the street with multiple addictions and brain rot that is it for you. He has seen millions of medical resources spent on one patient over their lifetime etc... and that anything but warehousing is a resource suck without end. When asked about solutions to "fix" these people I believe the only one he offered was a time machine to go back and intervene in early early childhood.
I think the guy performs a useful journalistic service but I'm not sure he's necessarily best-placed to comment on whether these people are fixable, since almost definitionally he's seem them at their worst.
To see if they could be treated you'd need a combination prison, asylum and rehab. They'd need to be forcibly weaned off any drugs, have medical treatment for any wounds/sores/etc. That first part is hard because eg. fentanyl is widely available in most American prisons. I'd want to see what these addicts look like after 5 years forcibly sober with not a single illegal substance. Perform some IQ and other tests, see if they've truly destroyed themselves for life.
These people have no willpower, they can't fix themselves, so I don't think approaches (including the hospital one) that are largely self-directed and rely on personal motivation are viable. That doesn't mean nothing is viable.
They really can't be fixed though, the same personality and mental flaws that lead them down that path in the first place are not going to be fixed by being 5 years sober in a forced environment. You need to keep them in that environment forever because as soon as they are out they are back at it soon enough. Maybe in the future if we have some miracle drugs that can repair brain damage and rewire...at this point in time there is no real solution except prevention and then containment. My spouse worked for a city homeless center as a mental health counselor at the start of her carrier, she saw the same thing. A zero zero percent long term recovery rate for people that far gone and leaking bile on the floor etc...
So. Just keep them in a forced environment forever then. 24/7 Culture drone surveillance and support.
I mean if you really think there's no cure then it sounds like its that or killing them or leaving them on the streets.
I mean it isn't what I think, it is borne out by statistics that no one wants to aggerate. I don't want it to be true. But yeah you would need that, basically a Culture drone missile on assignment to deal with every human deviant. Otherwise, just toss 'em in the warehouse. I don't see that as a worse solution than letting people burn to death in winter tents or die from an overdose. I think we are shirking our duty to our fellow humans by letting them run wild.
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