The Invisible Tragedy of Homelessness

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EL PASO, Texas — Homelessness has been an ongoing problem for many years in the United States, and many only see what’s on the surface, a person usually begging for spare change. The unseen reality is that in the United States about 3 million people are homeless and the recession will leave about 1.5 million more people without a roof over their heads over the next two years, according to The National Alliance to End Homelessness. The stereotype of a homeless person is someone who is too lazy to get a job or is a drug addict. Although there are people who choose to be on the streets and there are those with a serious dependency problem, about 41 percent of those who are homeless are families and about 1.5 million children were homeless just last year according to the National Center of Family Homelessness. “The homeless are as diverse as the rest of the population,” said Dr. Randall Amster, professor of Peace Studies at Prescott College and executive director of the Peace and Studies Association.

Young Users Find Ecstasy in a Cheap Abundant Pill

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EL PASO, Texas – Electro-beats fill the arena, green laser lights project out to the dancing multitude and somewhere in that crowd many will be consuming ecstasy, including 19 year-old Randy. “The first time I ever took ecstasy was when I went to a rave a few months ago and my friends gave me this really small pill. I took it and everything changed,” Randy said. “I just felt happy and everything sounded and looked even better than before.”

El Paso has seen an almost 2 percent increase of ecstasy seizures from 2008 to November 2009 according to Diana Apodaca, Drug Enforcement Administration special agent. “At first we thought it had to do with the violence in Mexico, but then we realized it had nothing to do with it,” Apodaca said.