N.B. pursuing legislation that could see drug users subject to involuntary treatment

The New Brunswick government is pursuing a controversial approach to addressing drug addiction that could result in people being forced into treatment against their will.

That approach would be carried out through legislation giving police officers the power to order someone to undergo drug rehabilitation in the "most extreme cases," where they pose a danger to themselves or others, said Public Safety Minister Kris Austin, in an interview.

"The objective always is to get people the help that they want but some people are so deep into their addictions that they simply can't make that decision," Austin said.

That's where government needs to step in to "save their lives and and make the community safer at the same time," he said.

Austin's proposal is one of a handful of strategic objectives he said his department is pursuing as part of a wider goal of reducing crime in the province.

He said many of the fine details are still being worked out, however, he said decisions around forcing someone to undergo treatment would likely involve the courts, as well as family members and social workers.

"There has to be checks and balances, there has to be, you know, high threshold that shows that this person, you know, their life is in danger and they are a safety risk to those around them."

Address gaps instead, says outreach worker

While Austin said he hopes to have legislation tabled sometime next spring, his proposal is already being criticized by experts in drug addiction and social outreach, who say it's futile if people don't have access to basic necessities like affordable housing and mental health care.

"You send someone to detox only to discharge them into homelessness. They go to the hospital for heart valve replacements resulting from substance use, only to be gone into homelessness again," said Debby Warren, executive director of Ensemble Moncton, which offers harm-reduction services for those with substance abuse issues.

Warren said if the government wants to address drug addiction effectively, it should create more housing to help people get back on their feet and reduce the stresses that push them to abuse substances.

She worries that by forcing them into treatment, the trauma that originally led them to addiction will only get worse.

"The ones with addictions disorder have already been hugely traumatized ... so you're just adding to the trauma and the rabbit hole just gets deeper."

Risk of overdoses could increase, says doctor

Dr. Sara Davidson is a family physician in Fredericton and medical director of the River Stone Recovery Centre, which has offered a prescribed opioid-agonist treatment program since 2020.

The program allows participants with treatment-resistant opioid-use disorder to get an individualized liquid hydromorphone prescription that can be taken up to three times each day by self-injection in the clinic.

She agreed that money and effort would be better directed at creating more housing and improving social programs that address the root causes of addiction.

By forcing people into treatment who might not be ready for it, she said some who need help might alienate themselves from the people and services that are there to help them.

Further, she said those who involuntarily undergo treatment often get released into the same environment that drove them to addiction in the first place.

"When you have someone be in a setting where they're fed, they're sheltered, they're protected, they have people that are engaging with them, they might stay and enjoy that actually.

"But then by the time they leave, if they're living outside or they're couch surfing ... they may turn to something that brought them some kind of comfort before, but their body is not adapted to it anymore and they will overdose and die."

Similar legislation proposed in Alberta

Austin's proposal makes New Brunswick potentially the second Canadian province to pursue legislation that would result in people being forced into addiction treatment against their will  even if they haven't committed a crime.

In Alberta, the government under Premier Danielle Smith is working on what it calls "compassionate intervention" legislation that would allow family members or health-care workers to apply to a judge to order a person into addiction treatment.

Alberta Mental Health and Addictions Minister Daniel Williams has said it will take a year or two to consult, propose and pass legislation and write regulations to guide how the process would work.

Austin said he understands that province is working on something similar, but didn't say whether his proposal was based on Alberta's.

"I think what we're seeing is, is jurisdictions across North America that are grappling with this addictions and mental health crisis in in the urban areas," Austin said.

Austin was unable to say whether there are other jurisdictions where a similar approach has been tried with success, adding that his department will be looking for those examples going forward.

Austin also dismissed concerns about the ethical and health risks associated with the approach.

"What I would say is, you know, what we're doing now is not effective, keeping people on the streets," Austin said.

"We're getting overdoses on the streets regularly and, you know, so simply turning a blind eye to these issues or ... throwing up our hands is not the answer."

Police groups asked about proposal

CBC News asked to speak with New Brunswick Association of Chiefs of Police and the New Brunswick Police Association about Austin's proposal.

Woodstock Police Chief Gary Forward, president of the chiefs of police group, said in an email he was unable to do an interview Friday.

"The NBACP can advise that we are looking forward to learning more about the initiative that may reasonably include information detailing associated benefits and/or complexities," he said.

CBC News did not receive a response from the New Brunswick Police Association before publication Friday.