Quote:
Originally Posted by rubecube
It's not just about human rights unfortunately. There is enough research that demonstrates that forcing people into treatment more often than not results in relapses, and the relapses tend to be more fatal because the person has lost their previous levels of tolerance but is still doing the same amount of drugs.
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I think part of the reason forced treatment often fails is that substance abuse and addiction are often not the root problem, but a symptom of other issues. People like to group it all together as "mental health", but it is such an over simplification of what is really a myriad of issues. Some people falsely believe that all kinds of depression, PTSD, anxiety, etc... can be treated or managed with pharmaceutical drugs, meditation, breathing exercises, healthy living... but they can't. Sometimes literally the only way people can cope is to numb their senses, and we have made it such a taboo that people often get chased away from society and families. They financially ruin themselves in the process. Sure, there are some people without any other internal issues who get addicted because they just like getting high, and those are the ones that will respond better to treatment, but it doesn't work for everyone.
I really think part of the solution is to make drugs safer and affordable. Put research and development into. Of course there will be people who still won't function well enough to be employable because all they want to do is get high, but it would at least help the ones need it to cope, can moderate themselves, and don't need to turn to crime and ostracization.