The use of involuntary commitment for drug addiction is rising in some states, the Associated Press reports. In many places, legislators are trying to create or strengthen laws allowing authorities to force people into treatment. Critics, including many doctors, law enforcement officials and civil rights advocates, caution that success stories are an exception. Research suggests involuntary commitment largely doesn’t work and could raise the danger of overdose for those who relapse after treatment. Expanding civil commitment laws, critics argue, could violate due process rights, overwhelm emergency rooms and confine people in prisonlike environments, where treatment sometimes amounts to little more than forced detox without medications to help mitigate withdrawal symptoms.
At least 35 states currently have provisions that allow families or medical professionals to petition a judge, who can then order an individual into treatment if they deem the person a threat to themselves or others. The laws haven’t been frequently used. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker signed a law last year allowing police to commit a person into treatment for up to three days. In Washington state, legislation that took effect April 1 grants mental health professionals similar short-term emergency powers. In both states, a judge’s order would still be required to extend the treatment. Related bills have also been proposed this year in states including Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Massachusetts, where involuntary commitment has emerged as one of the more controversial parts of Republican Gov. Charlie Baker’s wide-ranging bill dealing with the opioid crisis. Florida reported more than 10,000 requests for commitment in both 2016 and 2015, up from more than 4,000 in 2000. Massachusetts reported more than 6,000 forced commitments for drug addiction in both fiscal years 2016 and 2017, up from fewer than 3,000 in fiscal year 2006.