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Addiction Recovery Bulletin
CHOICE OR CHANCE OR GRACE –
Jan. 15, 2025 – A recent analysis published by CBC News concluded that there is no clear evidence showing efficacy for forced treatment for individuals suffering from addiction disorders. “There is a lack of high-quality evidence to support or refute involuntary treatment for [substance use disorders],” concluded the report. “More research is needed to inform health policy.”
In addition, criticisms of involuntary drug addiction treatment also noted that implementing involuntary treatment for substance addiction would require a province to amend its healthcare consent legislation. “We have to be realistic about the fact that addiction is a chronic disorder,” said Dr. Keith Humphreys, a professor of psychiatry at Stanford University, who was also chair of Alberta’s expert advisory panel on addiction recovery. “When we talk [about] forcing people into treatment, we should remember there aren’t really many people who would be just spontaneously waking up in a tent and saying, ‘I don’t want ever to use fentanyl ever again.’”
Finally, health experts and opponents of involuntary addiction treatment have also cited the lack of existing resources for voluntary treatment. “We have this massive disparity between the number of people who are referred to treatment and the capacity of the treatment system to meet that demand,” said Dan Werb, executive director of the Centre on Drug Policy Evaluation at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto. “The scientific evidence to support [involuntary treatment] as an effective approach just simply isn’t there.”
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