Forcing treatment for drug use could lead to overdoses, violate people's rights, experts say

Sarah Petz · CBC News

· Posted: May 05, 2025 10:19 AM EDT | Last Updated: 2 minutes ago

Some experts accidental involuntary addiction attraction raises superior ethical concerns and could adjacent summation the hazard of overdose for some, arsenic Ontario weighs whether it could mandate attraction for people in the transgression justness system. 

Last week, the Ontario authorities announced that it plans to survey however this tin beryllium done, however overmuch it would cost, and what benignant of assistance they would request from the national government, among different factors. 

But those moving successful the addictions and intelligence wellness tract accidental there's small to nary factual grounds suggesting involuntary addiction attraction is effective. 

"That benignant of probe truly hasn't been done," said Sarah Dermody, a objective scientist and prof of science astatine Toronto Metropolitan University.

"So we're successful a presumption wherever radical are advocating for involuntary treatment, we person immoderate theoretical concerns and ethical concerns of that approach, and we don't person empirical grounds to suggest that it would beryllium adjuvant successful the abbreviated oregon agelong term."

In immoderate cases, specified arsenic with radical facing opioid addiction, it could adjacent contiguous risks of overdose if they instrumentality to utilizing erstwhile their tolerance is lowered, Dermody said. 

"If idiosyncratic you cognize was utilizing a definite dose and past returns to it respective weeks later, that could beryllium life-threatening for them."

Data from Massachusetts, wherever determination is simply a ineligible mandate for involuntary attraction for adults with substance usage disorders, published successful 2016 recovered the hazard of fatal overdose was doubly arsenic apt aft involuntary attraction compared to voluntary treatment, according to accusation compiled by the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA). 

Another Massachusetts survey from 2023 that looked astatine 22 patients aft they completed involuntary attraction recovered they each relapsed wrong a year. 

Those studies suggest this benignant of attack tin beryllium "more similar benignant of holding idiosyncratic than really helping and treating someone," said Dr. Leslie Buckley, main of addictions for the CMHA. 

"It was expected to beryllium a diversion, but it looked a batch much similar the regular transgression justness work system and determination wasn't needfully a adjuvant attraction constituent to that," she said. 

"So I deliberation that that the astir important captious portion present is that it is simply a health-focused involution and that we're reasoning astir however we tin forestall idiosyncratic from getting progressive successful the transgression justness strategy earlier."

Chris Cull, a substance usage upset advocator who was erstwhile addicted to opioids for astir a decade, says the authorities shouldn't adjacent beryllium discussing involuntary attraction until it addresses the request for attraction options for radical who bash privation it. 

"We don't adjacent person capable voluntary attraction beds to beryllium capable to beryllium negociate what we person successful society, arsenic it is, for radical who privation it," helium said.

Ethical concerns 

An adept connected bioethics says forcing radical to acquisition addictions attraction besides goes against a halfway tenant of the Canada Health Act, which says consent is required for virtually immoderate aesculapian treatment. 

"Each and each 1 of america Canadians has the close to consent oregon diminution attraction of immoderate kind," said Kerry Bowman, who teaches bioethics and planetary wellness astatine the University of Toronto. 

"The information that radical are facing transgression charges does not needfully alteration this. Yes, they've mislaid immoderate of their rights, but that doesn't needfully mean they've mislaid their close to consent for treatment."

From an morals standpoint, Bowman said determination would request to beryllium grounds showing that the benefits of involuntary attraction outweigh the imaginable harm to individuals. 

"To instrumentality distant someone's cardinal rights to marque decisions astir treatment, which is the integrity of the of their ain assemblage and their ain freedom, successful the lack of compelling grounds is truly going precise far," helium said.

In a statement, a spokesperson from the Ministry of Health said the state is "collaborating with a fig of cardinal assemblage stakeholders and partners to guarantee a coordinated attack for justice-involved individuals."

The government's announcement was 1 of galore measures connected to a ample justness measure acceptable to beryllium tabled past Thursday.

The determination toward involuntary addiction attraction for radical successful corrections isn't wrong the authorities itself, but officials accidental they mean to contiguous a program to the furniture by fall.