The Abbotsford Drug War Survivors (DWS) have sent a letter to the province, saying they are concerned about potential human rights violations related to involuntary treatment.
The province announced in March that new guidelines had been released to address when the Mental Health Act can be used to treat people with substance-use and mental-health disorders against their will.
B.C.’s first involuntary care beds – for incarcerated men – opened in April at Surrey Pretrial Services Centre.
A second facility will open soon on the grounds of the Alouette Correction Centre in Maple Ridge.
The DWS letter is addressed to the Ministry of Health, Premier David Eby and Dr. Daniel Vigo (B.C.’s chief scientific adviser for psychiatry, toxic drugs and concurrent disorders) and the BC human rights commissioner.
“We are extremely concerned about the human rights violations inherent in detaining people without consent,” the letter states.
“The criteria for ‘impairment’ under the Mental Health Act is not a clearly defined standard, and we are deeply alarmed that it could be applied inconsistently or unethically, especially against people living in poverty, using drugs or navigating homelessness and trauma.”
The letter says it is “abhorrent” to dedicate resources to involuntary care when the voluntary system is “riddled with barriers, long wait lists, inconsistent quality and lack of regulatory oversight.”
The DWS says communities need more access to voluntary treatment options, detox, harm-reduction services and affordable housing.
“These basics needs and routes to healing are not being met. Meeting these gaps in care is where public funds should be directed, not toward coercive systems of control,” the letter states.
DWS says that pursuing forced treatment is fiscally irresponsible and “a failure of justice, compassion, human rights and evidence.”
In its letter, the organization asks the province to address several questions:
• What services will be provided to deal with the fact the people are at “significantly higher risk” of a fatal overdose after being discharged from treatment?
• What will the discharge process look like – such as access to safe, stable housing and other supports, including trauma counselling?
• Will individuals have access to their phones, internet and means of communicating with their support networks and what are the policies around visitor access and decision-making power over what medicine/drugs they are given?
• What must someone do to “win” their release and will there be a clear and fair process for people to advocate for their own discharge?
• What is the process for someone being forced into treatment – such as the role of police – and what is the plan to ensure the person is aware of their rights and for those rights to be protected?
• What is the plan to ensure the program operates in a manner that does not violate a person’s Charter rights or to ensure that the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous People is followed?
“These questions are not hypothetical. We represent real people whose lives are directly impacted by these decisions,” the DWS states in its letter.
Other groups that advocate for drug users and their families have also spoken out against the new guidelines.
The province has said that the new guidelines will improve care for those with overlapping mental-health and addiction challenges and brain injuries from toxic-drug poisonings.
