Inebriated in Seattle

July 20, 2006 12:32 PM

Arielle Berlin Reports:

The Federal Government is spending close to $1 million a year to help homeless alcoholics in Seattle live in what's called a "wet house," a place for homeless men and women to eat, sleep and drink as much as they want.

The idea is to save the cost of more time in jail or the emergency room. The residents were chosen from a list of 200 of the county's highest consumers of public funds -- people who have been alcoholics for over 15 years and have failed at least six times to get sober.

According to Bill Hobson, executive director of the Downtown Emergency Service Center, the nonprofit that runs 1811 Eastlake, "People are taken directly from the street and are not required to go through treatment and stabilization" to live at the center.

Hobson says that's because it's difficult to persuade people who have been drinking for over 15 years to quit altogether. "At the end of the day, the holiest grail of harm-reduction is abstinence…for a certain percentage of people that are living alcoholic lives, they can't quit immediately."

While the residence does employ five clinical case managers to discuss alternatives to alcoholism with the residents, rehabilitation is not a requirement to stay. The case managers look for alternatives to quitting cold. "If you drink whiskey every day, how about switching to beer? You can still maintain the craving, but it's a less injurious product," offers Hobson. more at link:http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/07/inebriated_in_s.html

What the...?! :waitasec:

It is actually really sad what is happening to our society if things like this are done. If they thought reverse psychology would be the ticket, ixnay! There has to be some ultra liberal character in charge of the program, but how they ever got it approved I'll never know. There must have been major protests from those who live or work nearby.

My, can you imagine working in this facility? It would be like living in a zoo!



Scandi

Just sounds like it is enabling to me. My brother is an alcoholic and if he had an option like this he would take it. Heck, he would think it was heaven.:doh:

Hey live for free on the someone else's dime and stay plastered all the time! Where do I sign up?? This is ridiculous. How do they select which drunks get to hang out there and for how long? Can drug addicts apply? What happens when the inn is full, do they somehow pick which drunks get to stay? Maybe they play spin the bottle to choose... Honestly, I could see having this type of home for the seriously mentally ill, the schizophrenics and others like them who are homeless because they act so crazy they can't hold a job, but for drunks who just aren't ready to sober up?? And yes...before anyone sez it...I know that alcoholism is considered to be a mental illness. I also know plenty of alcoholics that hold down jobs and pay mortgages. Several were in my own family....