When one hasn t seen this disorder and misery spreading on the streets of every major city in Canada, one can convince oneself that it really isn t that bad out there. A person can delude themselves and think that policies of enablement will eventually lead addicts to liberation from their poison of choice. They can call efforts to intervene in the state of addicts inhumane, and refer to it as something like imprisoning Albertans against their will. In fact, that's the exact approach Rachel Notley is taking on the issue.
00:00:00.000So, it's easy to critique proposed policies of mandatory drug treatment being imposed upon addicts from the comfort of a suburban home.
00:00:08.380When one hasn't seen this disorder and misery spreading on the streets of every major city in Canada, one can convince oneself that it really isn't that bad out there.
00:00:16.180A person can delude themselves and think that policies of enablement will eventually lead addicts to liberation from their poison of choice.
00:00:24.320They can call efforts to intervene in the state of addicts inhumane and refer to it as something like imprisoning Albertans against their will.
00:00:31.540In fact, that's the exact approach NDP leader Rachel Notley is taking on the issue.
00:00:39.080Now, the UCP under Premier Daniel Smith dared to broach the issue of mandatory drug treatment.
00:00:45.120And as usual, the partisan subjects have gone wild.
00:00:48.520Now, what privileged progressives like Notley refuse to understand is that addicts are already in prison against their will.
00:00:56.280They're trapped in a cycle of substance abuse which drives them to seek larger and more frequent doses to the point of an almost inevitable overdose.
00:01:04.120As they stumble down that path of addiction, they lose their jobs, they lose their homes, they lose contact with their families.
00:01:09.500They live on the streets in fear, misery, and desperation as it gets harder to find the means to get their drugs and keep them in their stupor which would allow them to forget their life situation.
00:01:19.760The fate of an addict once they've hit the streets is bleak.
00:01:22.320Unless they somehow find their way into a recovery program, they're likely going to end up either in jail, in a hospital, or dead.
00:01:28.580How on earth is it compassionate to say that we should leave addicts in that condition to their own devices?
00:01:33.840I mean, sure, it's always preferred, of course, to let free will dictate a person's path in life.
00:01:39.620That's working, though, under the assumption a person is in their right mind.
00:01:43.420A heavily addicted person living on the streets is not in their right mind.
00:01:47.600Yes, it's best if an addict voluntarily checks themselves into treatment.
00:01:52.040Unfortunately, once they're down on the street level, very, very few will do that.
00:01:55.840For most of them, once they've hit that point, intervention is required.
00:01:58.800Last week, I wrote and I said on this show on how I had a family member we had to deal with, and he needed to be committed to a mental health facility.
00:02:09.020The facilities are limited, and for now, he's still residing there.
00:02:12.340It's terrible to have to force a loved one into a situation where they're held against their own will.
00:02:17.140In the condition he's in, though, we know that he can't take care of himself, and he's beyond what we as family members can offer him with home care.
00:02:23.880We were forced to face the hard reality he needed to be committed for his own sake, and we do hope it's temporary.
00:02:31.060Now, society needs to make that decision when it comes to addicts.
00:02:34.220I can assure you, any family who has a loved one living on the streets in the throes of addiction will welcome a forced intervention with the intent of saving them.
00:02:43.160And I know success rates for addiction treatment aren't the greatest, particularly if the addicts didn't come of their own will to begin with.
00:02:49.460But still, the success rate's infinitely higher than having no treatment at all.
00:02:53.920A beating addiction is rarely a solitary journey.
00:02:57.120An addict needs support and guidance to stay clean.
00:03:00.500It took me several false starts and countless support meetings before I finally managed to permanently end my addictive and destructive relationship with alcohol.
00:03:08.200I never would have been able to do it alone.
00:03:10.320And I can't imagine how somebody at the point of living in the streets can get started on recovery, much less complete the process on their own.
00:03:16.640Street addicts can't just up and quit cold turkey.
00:03:19.200To every person claiming it's inhumane to force drug rehabilitation upon addicts, I invite them to go out and see how it is for themselves then.
00:03:53.900And then come to me and tell me we shouldn't intervene.
00:03:56.700Tell me how that person on the park bench, stoned out of their wits, soaking in their own feces, must be left alone for the sake of their dignity.
00:04:06.520And that's the inevitable destination of many street addicts if something doesn't knock them off their path.
00:04:12.520Intervention and mandatory treatment isn't a perfect option, and it won't work for them all.
00:04:16.440But it's still a far better course of action than the failed policies of enablement and wishful thinking that's led to the spread of addiction and disorder we're seeing on the streets today.