N.B. delays introduction of forced drug rehab legislation

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The Higgs government has backed out of introducing forced rehab legislation until after the fall election, if re-elected, following the province’s psychiatrists speaking up against the proposed law.

In a video statement Friday, Addictions and Mental Health Minister Sherry Wilson announced the Compassionate Intervention Act won’t be introduced as planned this spring.

“We are 100 per cent committed to introducing this legislation, but in our discussions and consultations, it was clear more time is required to ensure we get this right,” Wilson said. “As such, it will not be introduced this spring.”

The legislature will resume daily sittings Tuesday through to June 7, with a break in the third week of May. MLAs then won’t return to the legislature until after the provincial election scheduled for Oct. 21.

The Progressive Conservative government had been widely expected in May to introduce the bill that would compel people with substance use disorder into a treatment facility. Several ministers and the premier have talked openly about the plan for months, without divulging some of the details, such as where the patients will be rehabilitated or how the people with problems will be rounded up.

On Thursday, the New Brunswick Psychiatric Association sent an open letter to Premier Blaine Higgs asking him to reconsider the legislation, arguing it will do more harm than good.

In an interview Thursday, Dr. Mylène Poirier, president of the New Brunswick Psychiatric Association, told Brunswick News that she had been surprised to hear about the plan because she never imagined such a measure would be taken in Canada, a country which respects human rights.

She said her association hadn’t been consulted about any changes and doesn’t know what exactly will be contained in the new law, such as who will provide the treatment.

“Perhaps the premier isn’t even aware that the plan won’t work,” the doctor said from her office in Dieppe Thursday. “Maybe he’s looking for a quick solution to a big problem, and he doesn’t know what kind of a trap he’s falling into. So we’re sending him a message to try to change what will happen.”

On Friday afternoon, Poirier said she was relieved to hear about the delay. She hopes the time will allow her group to better understand the issues the government is attempting to address through the legislation and propose better solutions.

Higgs and Public Safety Minister Kris Austin have previously said people with severe addictions are posing big problems for homeowners and businesses. They also say those same people don’t necessarily know what would be best for them and it would be wrong to just let them continue their unhealthy and dangerous lifestyle.

But the president said forced treatment for people with addictions is more common in places with poor human rights’ records, such as Mexico.

The evidence, she warned, showed such treatment plans, no matter how well-intended, don’t work.

Perhaps the premier isn’t even aware that the plan won’t work. Maybe he’s looking for a quick solution to a big problem, and he doesn’t know what kind of a trap he’s falling into.

Mylène Poirier

The letter noted that peer-reviewed research suggests that forced detoxification does not improve patient care or reduce drug consumption. It also noted that a person has a higher risk of overdose following a period of involuntary detoxification, with a greater risk of complications and death after discharge.

“We really need to be effective,” said Poirier, who works at the Dr. Georges-L.-Dumont University Hospital Centre in Moncton. “We don’t have resources to lose, just by creating further crisis for no reason. If you create more chaos, the drug crisis will worsen. And that’s not useful.”

The professionals and clinicians complain in the letter that mental health treatment is underfunded and that it would make more sense to pump money into existing programs.

“Our health-care system, particularly in terms of addictions, is currently seriously under-resourced, with long waitlists,” it states. “Forcing inpatient treatment will further overburden the already scarce resources and make services even less accessible to those in need.”

The letter outlines what the psychiatrists think would be a more effective use of taxpayers’ dollars, including:

• Providing better access to voluntary mental health and drug addiction care within local communities;
• Offering quicker access to housing for the homeless population and those suffering from substance use disorders;
• Setting up public special-care homes for more severe cases, where staff are trained in the management of complex cases;
• Increasing mental health and addiction services in jails;
• Developing work programs that allow a person to regain self-esteem and resume an active role in the community;
• Establishing a Mental Health Court province-wide, similar to the one in Saint John, that gives people struggling with addiction the chance to enter a recovery program rather than go to jail