The BC street drug crisis has been a problem for a long time now, and there have been some questionable solutions being proposed (“qathet region per capita drug death statistics in top five in BC,” September 20].
One of them is the idea of forced hospitalization, particularly on youths who have overdosed twice in the same day. Supposedly, involuntary care is supposed to give the youth a chance to stand up on their own two feet again, make some proper decisions by themselves, and potentially detox from the harmful drugs.
However, the prospect of involuntary hospitalization could cause more trauma than not because there will have to be guards, restraints and possibly even sedation of patients. Since the people in question are youth, I don’t believe instilling a negative approach toward the health-care system at a young age would be a solution at all toward the problem.
Does it really make sense to scare our patients away from the system trying to save them?
If youth were to not appreciate the decision being made for them, then they may not even attempt to get treatment in the future at all. With detox centres being exceedingly expensive, I understand the need to find a solution quickly, but this is definitely not it.
Jaid Kirzakow,
Texada Island
