When NDP Leader David Eby announced this month that the province would open “secure facilities” to provide involuntary care for people with severe drug addiction or mental health problems, it represented a moment of policy unity with the rival B.C. Conservatives ahead of the fall election.
But for drug policy advocate DJ Larkin, the consensus was loaded with irony — since the province currently isn’t able to supply enough beds even for those who want treatment, let alone those who don’t.
“This shift toward involuntary treatment is a knee-jerk reaction,” Larkin, who’s the executive director with the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition, said in an interview. “It is quite obviously a political move to try to create a simple solution to a problem that requires multiple interventions.”
With more than 15,000 lives lost to toxic drugssince the declaration of a public health emergency in B.C. in 2016, the province has been at the cutting edge of debate, …