It takes a long time to get everyone to agree on hospitals and rehab and new social supports, it doesn't take a long time to put a roof over someone's head and give them a place to sort their lives out and try to rebuild. Perfect is the enemy of the good here... Giving people a home is one type of rehab, maybe even the cheapest one we have in the toolbox. I genuinely think that for each public addict we see, there are 50 more "working homeless" behind the scenes that can turn their lives around with minimal investment from the state if they just had a place to do it that didn't consume 80% of their income.
As for involuntary commitment, I think that's an extremely high burden to clear with medical ethics to actually get someone committed. It's genuinely a political non-starter, especially with how the charter of rights has been interpreted for the last 40 years and all that built up precedent behind it.
As for involuntary commitment, I think that's an extremely high burden to clear with medical ethics to actually get someone committed. It's genuinely a political non-starter, especially with how the charter of rights has been interpreted for the last 40 years and all that built up precedent behind it.
local cambridge weirdo