Health

Dr. Drew Blasts L.A. Homeless Policy: ‘It’s Negligent Manslaughter’

Published

July 19, 2025

In a recent segment of The Ingraham Angle on Fox News, host Laura Ingraham took aim at Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass for what she described as a self-congratulatory celebration over a minor decrease in homelessness. Bass acknowledged a 3% decline in the city’s homeless population, despite spending billions of taxpayer dollars. She framed it as a step forward, even as thousands remain unhoused and encampments persist throughout the city.

“Bass celebrates crisis,” Laura remarked. “She forgot she’s celebrating a 3% drop in homelessness after spending $2 billion over the past few years.”

Dr. Drew: “We’re Getting Nowhere”

Dr. Drew Pinsky, host of Ask Dr. Drew on Rumble and an officer with the Wellness Company, joined the segment to offer a sobering reality check.

“No, absolutely not,” he said when asked if there’s anything to celebrate. “We’re getting nowhere.” Pinsky blasted the policy of relocating homeless individuals into hotels without addressing the root causes: severe mental illness and addiction.

“Moving people who are addicted and chronically mentally ill from one place to another is not going to solve anything,” he warned. “These are the most seriously ill psychiatric patients with the most serious brain diseases humans can develop. Sending them out to the street kills them.”

He called current efforts tantamount to “negligent manslaughter,” arguing that city leaders refuse to let experts provide real care. Instead, he said, social workers—who are unequipped to manage severe psychiatric conditions—are tasked with the impossible.

Cannabis, Meth, and the Surge in Psychosis

Ingraham highlighted studies linking THC to psychosis and asked Dr. Drew if the cannabis crisis was contributing to homelessness. Pinsky confirmed a growing connection, especially in California.

“There’s absolutely no doubt it does,” he said of high-potency cannabis. “It creates [psychosis] in people who would not have developed it before, and it makes people with psychotic illnesses much worse.”

Still, he emphasized that fentanyl, methamphetamine, and long-untreated mental disorders are the primary drivers. “We are not providing any of the services necessary to actually improve the situation,” he added. “They literally will not allow people like me to go help these people because, hey, they’re living their best life.”

A Crisis of Neglect

The conversation turned to how quickly addiction escalates, with Pinsky stating plainly: “People these days get very quickly to meth. And then once the meth, heroin just comes in, almost automatically.”

He expressed frustration that the city’s response ends with shelter but not with treatment. “Once we get them in, turns out we’re not done afterwards. Oh really? Shocking,” he said sarcastically. “Why don’t we just eliminate psychiatry and addiction medicine as a discipline and just leave it all behind?”

Ingraham’s Final Word: We Can’t Abandon Los Angeles

Laura closed the segment by referencing far-left L.A. politicians like Zohran Mamdani, who previously entertained the idea of seizing private property to end homelessness. “Why are they homeless?” she asked. “A lot of people are in serious mental health crisis. So just giving someone a place to stay does not do the trick.”

Despite the challenges, she affirmed her commitment to the city: “We can’t abandon Los Angeles either, even if some people seem to be.”