A very large percentage of unsheltered people are addicted to drugs. The stereotype is that people become homeless because of drug use. This may be true in some cases, but people who are housed are more likely to be able to successfully access resources and services to help control their substance use. Most people who become homeless because of drug use are already unstably housed or disconnected from their families and social support systems or are already in such poverty that options for treatment do not exist. However, even more likely is that people will become drug dependent after they become homeless. Social structures on the street are more tolerant of drug and alcohol use than most housed situations. People lose the connections to friends and family which would otherwise help them to abstain or control their use. People who become homeless because of other factors such as mental illness are more likely to self-medicate using drugs.