The Colorado Springs homeless bring a host of obvious and well-known problems to the city. Think disease, lack of shelter/exposure to the elements, vulnerability to attacks, sexual assault, drug use, etc. The homeless also damage our environment through litter, drug refuse, abandoned encampments, and toxic run-off. They tend to congregate in public areas and covered walkways in order to find shelter. Public spaces like parks, playgrounds, and picnic areas are convenient for them. They inhabit nearly every recreational area in Colorado Springs. Consequently, they leave behind discarded debris, human waste, drug paraphernalia, and other anthropogenic waste.
Without stronger proactive measures, the Colorado Springs homeless population will explode. We’ve seen how bad things can get in cities like Portland, Oregon. California’s homeless population has just exceeded 130,000. And the list grows daily. Colorado Springs homelessness can be mitigated, but the reality of the problem first needs to be better understood.
The simple fact that the Colorado Springs homeless population seems to be set apart in the sense of citizenship and abiding by rules plays a huge role in the growing problem. They leave behind heaps of refuse, drug waste, and feces because they don’t have the trash services or waste systems that everyday citizens have. The problem, of course, is that this waste is left behind in public recreational zones. It’s detrimental to the environment and dangerous to the tax-paying citizens sharing these public spaces. For example, there is a risk for the spread of diseases like HIV due to the increased possibility of people accidentally treading on discarded needles, pets stepping on them, or children picking them up. Likewise, the feces and trash polluting the waterways increase the risk of E. Coli. Much of this is happening within two miles of Colorado Springs City Hall.
The problem goes beyond downtown Colorado Springs. In response to increased enforcement on no camping regulations, Colorado Springs homeless groups have begun living in the national forest surrounding the city. The U.S. Forest Service’s Pikes Peak District Ranger Oscar Martinez says his “small staff is facing a huge problem with insufficient resources: Camps also have popped up on nearby national forest land, overrun with trash and hazardous materials like human waste and drug needles, often with dangerous campfires that could threaten the dry forest.”
One law does state that a group cannot camp on Forest Service land for a period of longer than 14 days. It is also illegal to make use of this land as a permanent residence. However, there is confusion regarding the details of the law. In order to skirt the law, these groups pack up and move to some new location every two weeks. In so doing, they leave behind massive amounts of anthropogenic waste. Hence, these guidelines are not having the effect officials hoped for. Homeless populations leave behind significant amounts of trash each time they vacate a campsite. This causes the litter and waste to spread as they continually relocate biweekly.
As if the understaffed local Forest Service didn’t have enough on their plate, there is more cause for alarm. Due to the current regional drought, Forest Service workers have found evidence of scorched trees, suggesting that past campfires have gotten out of control. To further their troubles, during the clean-up efforts, Martinez and his crew faced other difficulties. As he explained to the Colorado Springs Independent’s J. Adrian Stanley,
We’re picking up stuff that’s hazardous to my folks now, like sharps. . . . We went to a camp a couple weeks ago where there were needles and all this other paraphernalia that we would typically not see on a forest property. And they started picking it up and one of our folks had it stuck on their boot. So it’s forcing us to rethink what our proper protective gear looks like. (qtd. in Colorado Springs Independent). To make matters worse, each site can cost up to $1,000 to clean up, with an average of four new camps being discovered each week.
Various groups throughout the city have taken on the problem. Countless non-profit agencies are working together to formulate a plan. In an effort to reduce water pollution caused by the Colorado Springs homeless, the no camping ordinance will be enforced by police officers between the Bijou Street bridge and the intersection of I25 and Neveda Avenue, alongside the path of Fountain Creek. In an attempt to reduce begging, they have placed warning signs at all major intersections throughout the city.
However, it seems apparent that the general problem is lack of resources, i.e. lack of funds. The state should turn the issue in on itself. A portion of the profits from marijuana legalization could be used to mend the issue. In the first four months after marijuana was legalized, the state earned over 10 million dollars in taxes from the sales of marijuana. The first 40 million dollars was designated to go toward infrastructure and schools.
But that time has long since passed. Currently, marijuana revenue includes three central taxes: a state retail tax rate of 15%, a state retail excise tax of 15%, and a 2.9% sales tax on medical marijuana. These marijuana tax profits are routinely distributed among various functions and campaigns. A Westword article explains that $32 million went to substance abuse prevention and treatment centers. Another $16.5 million was put towards a grant for local affordable housing. $118 million was used for government purposes, and so on.
Assuming the idea gains favor, as a rough estimate, 10% percent of these profits could be put into a program that would both reinforce existing programs and help to get people off the streets. Additionally, the money could be used to give the homeless temporary jobs. This could include clean-up efforts, working in shelters, etc. In all, the state has garnered $769,910,441 in marijuana tax revenue in the four years since it was legalized. If 10 percent of the overall profits from the past four years were to be taken out, that would be $76,991,044 towards getting people off the streets, clean-up efforts, and ultimately preventing the threat the Colorado Springs homeless pose to the environment.
Granted, these funds would be for the entire state, not just Colorado Springs. Still, if the proposition to put these funds towards certain remedies is denied, other options exist. For instance, HOT (Homeless Outreach Team) in Colorado Springs is manned by no more than four police officers. This means there are four HOT members for the 1,551 homeless people currently living in Colorado Springs. In addition, the Pike’s Peak Ranger District of the U.S. Forest Service has just 47 people on its staff. Due to the time-consuming issue posed by the homeless population in the area, they are becoming distracted from their other duties. They should be more heavily staffed.
Ten percent of annual state marijuana profits should be put towards programs to aid the homeless. This could be applied to staff already working towards prevention or by enabling the Colorado Springs homeless to find temporary employment. Doing so would help those in need get back on their feet and decrease the homeless population. Colorado Springs citizens would see a friendlier environment within the city and in the surrounding national forest. More needs to be done toward mitigating the problem. This proposal could help.
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Haley Leonard grew up on the outskirts of Woodland Park, Colorado and is studying for a BA in English with a minor in Zoology. She enjoys painting, fictional literature, and a good cup of hot tea.
