The sight is increasingly common: people openly using drugs, menacing pedestrians, strewing sidewalks and parks with needles, syringes and resin-crusted patches of foil. President Trump recently proposed a solution. He wants to force them off the streets and into treatment.
The concept is not as unlikely as it might seem. Laws allowing people with severe substance disorders to be involuntarily committed to rehab are already on the books in at least 34 states and the District of Columbia. Mr. Trump’s executive order this summer directs the attorney general and health secretary to support vigorous enforcement of those statutes, which are seldom used in many states.
Like the better-known mandatory treatment laws for mental illness, those directed at substance use are intended as last-ditch options, typically invoked by relatives desperate to rescue a loved one. But police and doctors can also petition judges.
Still, obstacles to scaling up implementation of the laws are considerable. Even if moving large numbers of people off the street were feasible, states would need to find spots in facilities and pay for them. Right now, beds for people who want help are already limited.
Here are some things to know:
How does a case begin?
Usually a relative, spouse or friend petitions a court for a hearing, but states usually allow many others to do so, including police, doctors and social workers. The District of Columbia says the mayor can open a case.
Hearings can be held in municipal, county, family or probate courts. Some jurisdictions have a dedicated docket for behavioral health cases.
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The post Can Drug Users Be Forced Into Rehab? Trump Says Yes. So Do 34 States. appeared first on New York Times.
