As a broad statement it's dumb, but depending on the city addiction can be a major contribution to the cycle of "homelessness", especially the more visible populations who have reached peak "fuck it" and have no more cares for societal values or laws.. Even if 25% of them are kids, yeah some of those may be hooked on drugs at an early age or be affected by parental/guardian drug abuse.

But ok then... he's still a billionaire who could definitely spare a good portion of his wealth to improve both situations (homelessness and addiction) but would rather just leverage it to make more and more wealth while pushing policies that actually make life for the average person worse.

At the same time, homelessness and addiction are very much NOT just a throw-money-at-it problem and fucking both would require systemic change over time.

For Elon socially, how much of his wealth is liquid enough to make a difference I don't know, but I haven't really heard of him doing ANYTHING particularly altruistic with his money and Id say the changes/logistics required to make this world a better place are probably still a lot more feasible than building a colony on fucking Mars....