I understand the view that in rehabilitation from addiction, drugs are not the only factor to consider. But they are absolutely a factor that needs to be considered. Ask anyone who has tried to quit smoking, drinking, or using any drug.
If someone overdoses and almost dies, or harms someone else, I think the state has a responsibility to get that person help that they may not have the ability, knowledge, or desire to seek, as opposed to turning them back out onto the street and waiting for it to happen again. The situation right now where I live is that businesses and homes are stocked with naloxone kits, and citizens are administering lifesaving healthcare to people on death’s door, on the sidewalk. Everyone I know who lives downtown has seen a dead body on the street in the past year. That’s not good, and practical solutions are needed immediately. I’m not convinced that a Swiss bulletin from 1999 which tents its argument on examples from the Vietnam War and the American Civil War really gets to the heart of the current issue and set of circumstances.
You’re making personal assumptions about me, and the internal mental states of others that I think are unfair.
I don’t want to see overdoses in the street, nobody should. Not because I want it to happen in private, but because I don’t want it to happen. For the record, and not that you asked, but, I’ve also never said that I’m an advocate for mandatory rehab, or that it’s some kind of magical cure-all. I’m not here carrying water for these initiatives. All I’m saying is that there’s a serious problem, and a need for solutions and sincere discussion. I don’t think anything is gained for any position by browbeating others and fabulating their inner thoughts.
Interesting. Can you link the course? I’d be curious to see the syllabus and learn more.