Critics slam B.C. premier’s involuntary care announcement [Video]

The B.C. premier’s announcement to introduce involuntary care for people with serious addiction and mental health issues is being met with pushback from critics who say the decision isn’t evidence-based and will cause more harm.

Dr. Kora DeBeck, a professor at the school of public policy at Simon Fraser University, said there is no evidence this approach works.

“Forced treatment doesn’t have the promise we hope that it does, and it sets us up for so much risk,” she said.

DeBeck said some of those risks include further eroding connections and trusting relationships in the health-care system, as well as increasing the risk of overdose.

“Addiction treatment is not a linear journey,” she said. “People often relapse and end up using drugs again. When they have these periods of not using drugs they’re much more likely to overdose and so when people are being forced into either stabilization or addiction …