Involuntary care issues |
It seems so simple, so basic an idea you wonder why it has not been implemented yet. It is involuntary care.
As communities across the province grapple with street disorder and a sense of insecurity, involuntary care is seen by many as a solution. Politicians of all stripes have offered it up to concerned residents and businesses as a path forward.
The problem is it is unlikely to be what people are expecting. The expectation is it will be a panacea. The reality will be quite different. Currently, the perception is involuntary care will be a method for sweeping the streets clean, getting people into treatment and rebuilding contributing members of society. The reality is people are likely to be disappointed as we get a classic example of overpromise and underdeliver.
There are many reasons for that. Without doubt, there are a number of individuals who need help, who are not in a place where they can make decisions. The CEO of Our Place summed it up well recently: “…if someone is so unwell that they cannot make informed decisions about their health care, then leaving them to die on the sidewalk with little but their liberties intact is not compassion. It is abandonment," said Julian Daly.
These people need care and, quite possibly, may never be in a place to return to life. What doesn’t get discussed enough is the toxicity of the drugs awash in our streets. Those drugs, laced with fentanyl........