Camp Philadelphia

 

Thom Nickels, "Camp Philadelphia: The City of Brotherly Love is being overwhelmed by homeless tent cities."

Daniel, 37, has been dealing drugs in Philadelphia’s Kensington neighborhood for years. The Lancaster County native has seen drastic changes on two fronts: the increased potency of the drugs on the market and the resulting behaviors of addicts, many of them homeless, buying these drugs. Gone are the days, he says, when one could purchase crystal meth and be certain that there were no additives in it. Today, fentanyl (a synthetic opioid stronger than morphine) is added to most street drugs. Daniel says the addition of fentanyl is intended to get the buyer addicted as quickly as possible because addiction ensures future sales.

Fentanyl has changed what it means to get high. Its users generally find themselves in a zombie-like state, unable to communicate or walk in a straight line. Some experience aggressive behaviors, hallucinations, and paranoia. Users who combine fentanyl with K2/Spice, a synthetic cannabinoid, often wind up screaming inanities in public or lose control of their bodily movements. In Kensington, it’s common to see K2 users behave as if they were in the throes of an epileptic seizure—they dance out into city traffic, arms and legs jerking violently, or thrash about on the ground, while those in a fentanyl trance stand immobile, bent over, their faces almost touching the ground.

In 2020, Philadelphia officials estimated the number of homeless people in the city at 300; police put the number at 650. The Office of Homeless Services has recently revised its estimate of the number of people living on the streets to 958. One homeless couple I met traveled to the city from Pittsburgh because they heard that Philadelphia was the place to go for affordable drugs. I encountered Elvis, 30, as he sat on the sidewalk near the local firehouse in my neighborhood while his wife, a tall, statuesque blonde, canvassed traffic with a “Homeless and Hungry” cardboard sign. “My wife makes better money than I do when she works traffic,” Elvis told me, “so I sit here and watch her to make sure she’s okay.”