Housing first helps reduce drinking but not drug use.

This intervention based on housing first led to significantly greater reductions in drinking problems after 14 months, but not in problems with other substances. Key points from summary and commentary • Housing first interventions are associated with improvements in housing stability and quality of life among homeless people with mental illness and substance use problems. • This study sought to investigate the impact of housing first on substance use outcomes over 24 months in Toronto, Canada. • The researchers found that housing first contributed to reductions in drinking problems over time, but did not have an impact on drug use problem