To the Editor:

Usually, the Dorchester Reporter is fair-minded, so I was surprised to read “Mass. and Cass woes are now impacting South Bay and beyond” in the Oct. 31 issue. 

The big issue isn’t crime but the lack of housing.  Where we used to have rooming houses and cheap apartments, now no more—they’ve been replaced by $3,000++ rents and “luxury” condos. Because there’s no available housing, the number of people on the street is sure to increase. And it could be you or me because these days it doesn’t take much. My point is that homeless people are the victims, not the cause.

I once wrote an article called “If I Were Homeless,” saying that if I were out on the street even half a day, I’d be taking drugs to make me feel better, and I’d waste no time getting me a tent! 

As for drugs, there should be a big sarcastic flag over Mass. and Cass: “Thank you, Sackler!” As well as “Thank you, USA for Fentanyl.” Yes, reopen Long Island – after ten years! – and open more mental health and drug treatment places – right where they’re needed. Police cars at every corner are a hostile response, not a solution. And we’ve got to put an end to hatred of the homeless and treating them like criminals.

Alison Barnet is an author who has lived in the South End close to Boston Medical Center for 60 years.