The following was written on Labor Day, 2026, and speaks to a serious problem in the labor market and larger society in both Tucson and the US.
On a recent weekend, my wife Kim and I walked through the grounds of an expensive resort that is a quarter-mile from our house in the Foothills of Tucson. The parking lot of the 396-room resort was full, mostly with high-priced vehicles with Arizona license plates.
Because it’s very unusual to see much business at the resort during the summer months, I asked a resort employee why there were so many guests. He replied that a convention was being held at the resort by Southeastern Arizona Narcotics Anonymous (SEAZNA).
Not knowing about the organization, I looked it up on the internet upon returning home. Its website describes the organization as follows:
N.A. is a non-profit fellowship or society of men and women for whom drugs had become a major problem. We are recovering addicts who meet regularly to help each other stay clean. This is a program of complete abstinence from all drugs. There is only one requirement for membership, the desire to stop using. We suggest that you give yourself a break. Our program is a set of principles written so simply that we can follow them in our daily lives. The most important thing about them is that they work.
Kudos to the organization and its members.
It’s not surprising that drug addiction is a major problem in the US. The problem is not only reflected in statistics but can be seen every day by driving around Tucson (and other cities) and encountering the scores of homeless people with addictions who are allowed to live and die on the street like animals.
Just in the last week in Tucson, a homeless guy lying on railroad tracks was killed by a train, another homeless guy lying in the middle of a road was run over by a car, and a woman in a relatively nice neighborhood in center city was brutally assaulted by a homeless guy as she was raking her yard. The woman lives near a park that the homeless use as a hangout and latrine.
It seems that society cares more about dogs defecating in parks and running wild and being hit by cars than the homeless defecating in parks and being hit by cars and trains.
Of course, canines don’t have civil liberties and can be picked up by a dog catcher for humane care. At the same time, courts have established novel and cruel constitutional roadblocks to helping the homeless as promptly and humanely as dogs.
When I worked in the manufacturing and mining industry, substance abuse was a big problem. It took special efforts to keep impaired employees from working in hazardous areas and being a danger to themselves and their coworkers. Also, the cost of drug rehabilitation for employees and their families was a big driver of the increased cost of medical insurance.
This problem won’t be fixed by imposing tariffs on imported goods.
Still, even with the foregoing experiences, I was taken aback that drug addiction has reached so far into society that there are enough former addicts in the Tucson region to fill an expensive resort. Apparently, it’s not only a problem of the poor, the working class, and the homeless.
There’s also a bit of irony in the venue selected by SEAZNA to hold its convention. Kim and I pick up litter every day on the road that leads to the resort. Much of the detritus consists of empty bottles and cans of alcoholic beverages, sometimes intermixed with drug paraphernalia. The trail of debris leads directly to the employee parking lot of the resort.
No surprise. The hospitality industry in general, and kitchens in particular, rank high in substance abuse, as exemplified by Anthony Bourdain, and as seen in statistics here.
It just so happens that most of the recent job growth in the US and in Tucson in particular has been in two industries. The first is the hospitality industry, where, to repeat, there is a high rate of substance abuse. The second is the healthcare/social services industry, which deals with the effects of substance abuse.
Sobering thoughts on Labor Day.
Mr. Cantoni is an author, activist and retired business executive. Contact: [email protected].
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