{"id":19845,"date":"2025-08-16T17:49:06","date_gmt":"2025-08-16T16:49:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/?p=19845"},"modified":"2025-10-21T20:57:26","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T19:57:26","slug":"need-to-include-involuntary-treatment-in-tackling-drug-abuse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/2025\/08\/need-to-include-involuntary-treatment-in-tackling-drug-abuse\/","title":{"rendered":"Need to include involuntary treatment in tackling drug abuse"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"single__header\">\n<header class=\"article-header\">\n<div class=\"article-header__top\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; color: #0000ff;\">OPINION: <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; color: #0000ff;\">Eric Adams is right\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-header__meta\" style=\"text-align: justify;\" aria-label=\"Byline\">\n<div class=\"byline meta meta--byline\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; color: #0000ff;\">by Charles Fain Lehman &#8211; Aug. 14, 2025<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; color: #0000ff;\"><em>Charles Fain Lehman is a fellow at the Manhattan Institute and senior editor of\u00a0<\/em>City Journal<em>.<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"date meta meta--byline\" aria-label=\"Date published\/updated\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"featured-image featured-image__wrapper m-top\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<figure class=\"featured-image__figure\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; color: #0000ff;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-19846\" src=\"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Jacking-up-on-the-street.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"939\" height=\"576\" srcset=\"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Jacking-up-on-the-street.jpg 939w, https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Jacking-up-on-the-street-640x393.jpg 640w, https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Jacking-up-on-the-street-768x471.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 939px) 100vw, 939px\" \/><\/span><figcaption><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; color: #0000ff;\"><em>Rampant drug use in and around the Hub by 149th street and 3rd avenue in the south Bronx.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0photo:<span class=\"credit\">Stephen Yang<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"single__content entry-content m-bottom\">\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; color: #0000ff;\"><strong>Can New York clean up its public drug-use problem?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; color: #0000ff;\">Mayor Eric Adams aims to try: On Thursday, he called on the state Legislature to allow clinicians and judges to\u00a0compel people into treatment\u00a0when their drug use is hurting them and the city.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; color: #0000ff;\">\u201cWe must help those struggling finally get treatment, whether they recognize the need for it or not,\u201d Adams said at an event hosted by the Manhattan Institute (where I work). \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; color: #0000ff;\">\u201cAddiction doesn\u2019t just harm individual users; it tears apart lives, families and entire communities, and we must change the system to keep all New Yorkers safer.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; color: #0000ff;\">Adams\u2019 proposed state law, the Compassionate Interventions Act, may face an uphill battle in Albany, as \u201charm reduction\u201d advocates assail it as coercive and dangerous.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; color: #0000ff;\">But involuntary treatment should be a tool in New York\u2019s arsenal for\u00a0dealing with the public drug use\u00a0that has plagued it for years.<\/span><\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<div class=\"inline-module inline-module--more inline-module--explore-more inline-module--more--thirds\" data-source-unit=\"Explore More - Tag\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__inner\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__content\">\n<div class=\"layout layout--thirds\">\n<div class=\"layout__grid layout__grid--gap-10\">\n<div class=\"layout__item\">\n<div class=\"layout__inner b-top b-top-none-md p-top p-top-none-md b-left-md p-left-md\">\n<div class=\"story story--i-flex story--i-flex-none-md\">\n<h3 class=\"story__headline headline headline--xxs\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-align: justify;\">There\u2019s no doubt the city has a problem.<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; color: #0000ff;\">Last year it reported nearly 4,000 homeless residents with a history of chronic substance use \u2014 probably an undercount, as such people are less likely to be identified by the city\u2019s annual late-night census.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; color: #0000ff;\">Regardless, it\u2019s not hard to find people shooting up on New York\u2019s streets \u2014 just visit\u00a0the Hub\u00a0in The Bronx or\u00a0Washington Square Park\u00a0in Manhattan.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; color: #0000ff;\">Such behavior makes whole swaths of the city unlivable.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; color: #0000ff;\">Public drug use hurts both users \u2014 there were more than 2,100 overdose deaths in the five boroughs last year \u2014 and the places where they use.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; color: #0000ff;\">It deters commerce, and creates environments conducive to more serious crime.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; color: #0000ff;\">Too often the city has responded to these situations with benign neglect, exemplified by its two \u201csupervised consumption sites,\u201d which give people a place to use with Narcan-wielding staff standing by.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; color: #0000ff;\">These sites continue to operate, in spite of the fact that\u00a0they don\u2019t work\u00a0and violate federal law.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; color: #0000ff;\">Leaving people free to abuse drugs, it turns out, doesn\u2019t save lives.<\/span><\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n<div class=\"inline-module inline-module--related-post\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__inner\">\n<h2 class=\"inline-module__heading subsection-heading subsection-heading--underline\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; color: #0000ff;\">See Also Supplementary statement by Eric Adams:<\/span><\/h2>\n<div class=\"story story--i-flex story--i-flex-none-sm\">\n<div class=\"story__image\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"story__text\">\n<h3 class=\"postid-36823476 story__headline headline headline--xs inline-module--related-post__headline\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; color: #0000ff;\">Adams proposes tackling public drug use with, in part, a new law allowing doctors to involuntarily commit addicts<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; color: #0000ff;\">Involuntary treatment, by contrast, tries to correct the behavior that drives drug users to hurt both themselves and others.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; color: #0000ff;\">That\u2019s why 37 other states already permit it \u2014 and why New York under Adams\u2019 plan would join them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; color: #0000ff;\">Critics will insist that involuntary drug treatment doesn\u2019t work, and that people have to want to change.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; color: #0000ff;\">But the balance of the evidence suggests that involuntary treatment performs as well as voluntary treatment.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; color: #0000ff;\">That\u2019s backed up both by older research on California\u2019s involuntary-treatment scheme, and by strong indications that drug courts, which route drug offenders into treatment instead of prison, can reduce recidivism.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; color: #0000ff;\">Opponents will also say that it\u2019s immoral to compel people to get treatment they don\u2019t want, and that it violates their \u201cbodily autonomy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; color: #0000ff;\">But there\u2019s no right to shoot up in public spaces, or to ruin your body with fentanyl. And New Yorkers should have the right to expect their public spaces to be free from disorder, including public drug use.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; color: #0000ff;\">The biggest challenge for Adams, though, may be the state\u2019s limited treatment capacity.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; color: #0000ff;\">New York state as a whole has only 134 long-term residential treatment facilities.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; color: #0000ff;\">As of 2023, the most recent available data, they were serving 2,935 clients \u2014 fewer than the city\u2019s tallied homeless drug-addict population.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; color: #0000ff;\">Implementing the Compassionate Interventions Act will almost certainly require more funding for treatment beds, much as Adams\u2019 previous efforts to\u00a0institutionalize the seriously mentally ill\u00a0did. That will have to be part of any ask in Albany.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; color: #0000ff;\">But the mayor\u2019s proposal will also allow diversion to outpatient treatment programs, including a new $27 million investment in contingency management therapy \u2014 an evidence-based intervention that has been shown to help treat drug addiction.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; color: #0000ff;\">What happens if Albany says no to Adams\u2019 proposal? Or if Adams is\u00a0out of the mayoralty\u00a0come the next legislative session?<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; color: #0000ff;\">The NYPD can still work to clear encampments. And the city can still try to divert drug users into its drug-courts system, which, while useful, faces administrative problems and lacks transparency.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; color: #0000ff;\">But actually getting drug users the help they need, rather than just cycling them through the city\u2019s jails, will be hard \u2014 much as the administration struggled to handle the seriously mentally ill before it had the power to compel them into treatment.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"comments-inline-cta\" style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-comment-count=\"\" data-prompt=\"What do you think?\"><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>SOURCE: https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/08\/14\/opinion\/involuntary-treatment-can-solve-the-public-drug-scourge\/<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>OPINION: Eric Adams is right\u00a0 by Charles Fain Lehman &#8211; Aug. 14, 2025 Charles Fain Lehman is a fellow at the Manhattan Institute and senior editor of\u00a0City Journal. Rampant drug use in and around the Hub by 149th street and 3rd avenue in the south Bronx.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73,63,129,68,141,37,12,67,40,36,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-addiction","category-brain-and-behaviour","category-culture","category-drug-use-various-effects","category-harm-reduction-research","category-hiv-injecting-drug-users","category-legal-sector","category-needle-exchange","category-prevention-research","category-treatment-addiction","category-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19845"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19845\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20128,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19845\/revisions\/20128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}