Eby and Appadurai Differ on Compulsory Drug Treatment

published on September 15, 2022 by Akhila Menon in The Tyee

When BC NDP leader hopeful David Eby last month said people who have overdosed from toxic drugs twice in a day should be given compulsory treatment instead of being discharged from the hospital, the response from harm reduction advocates was swift and skeptical.

Eby’s competitor for the BC NDP leadership, Anjali Appadurai, has added her voice to the critics, telling The Tyee, “Involuntary care is a policy on the wrong side of the required paradigm shift and flies in the face of civil liberties. What we need is an adequate, reliable and regulated safe supply, combined with expanded access to harm reduction supplies and community care services. We need to stop criminalizing people who are suffering, and we need to create a policy that is rooted in care. ”

But Eby isn’t backing away. Earlier this week he told The Tyee, “More people than ever are dying in our streets due to the toxic drug supply. We must explore every possible solution to get people the life-saving support they need. That’s what you do in a crisis.”…