In Righteous Dopefiend, Philippe Bourgois and Jeff Schonberg deliver a powerful and poignant account of the culture and challenges faced by homeless heroin addicts in San Francisco. Many factors, including structural violence, affect the health and quality of life of drug users, creating a unique set of challenges for health care providers and law enforcement. The problem of heroin addiction is not one-dimensional and many problems contribute to creating a “syndemic” (Sobo 193). Heroin addiction deserves to be examined from many angles so that effective solutions can be introduced to help those affected, including Edgewater's unique homeless community. Following the dot-com boom of the 1990s, the political and economic landscape of San Francisco changed greatly (Bourgois and Schonberg). Around this time, Mayor Brown of San Francisco adopted neoliberal policies and reinstated law enforcement campaigns directly targeting the homeless (Bourgois and Schonberg 221-222). The campaigns caused Edgewater's homeless to lose their few possessions, their regular encampments, their clean syringes, and their contact with the Department of Public Health's mobile health van (Bourgois and Schonberg 222). Many addicts blamed themselves for the situation they found themselves in, but the culture around them played an equally important role in prolonging their addiction and health problems. The government policies mentioned above and the drug use of homeless people have caused a “syndemic” in their lives. A syndemic is “a set of [health] problems that work together, often reinforcing and exacerbating each other synergistically” (Sobo 193). Poor sanitation, use of dirty needles, and reduced access to health care have created a complex health care system...... middle of paper ...... medical care that the wealthiest Americans receive . Heroin addiction continues to be a significant public health problem. problem for Edgewater's homeless and America today. Substance abuse, combined with poor living conditions and reduced access to health care, creates a syndemic that requires health and social programs to work together to address the problem. Structural violence stigmatizes homelessness and heroin addiction, negatively impacting the health of addicts. Attitudes toward these people must be changed so that all Americans receive the basic health care they deserve as human beings. Works cited Bourgois, Philippe and Jeff Schonberg. Just Dopefiend. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2009. Print. Sobo, Elisa J. “Political Economy of Variation in Human Health.” Dynamics of human-biocultural diversity. Walnut Creek: Left Coast Press, 2013. 190-93. Print.