Comment by bteitelb
5 years ago
A curious footnote: Sam Quinones argues that P2P meth is part of the explanation for the proliferation of tents in homeless encampments, because it causes users withdraw socially in ways that earlier meth didn't. This is what he means by it "brought you inside". Users want to be alone (i.e. in a tent) with their paranoid schizophrenic hallucinations.
That's a bizarre argument. All humans need shelter, whether it's a tent or a house.
I think he means that when you're tweaking on the "old meth," you'd be more likely to go outside and interact with people (many times, with hostility and aggression), while the "new meth" is more likely to make you want to stay inside, and withdraw from society.
In my opinion, this is a plausible hypothesis.
What's cheaper than a tent? 1/2 or 1/3rd of a tent. That's enough if shelter is the only issue. If there is a need for the poorest to have solitude, there's going to be a proliferation in the number of tents.
Anecdata: I'm not on meth and I strongly prefer an entire tent to a partial tent.
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