Most Canadians in favour of compulsory treatment for people struggling with opioid addiction: poll
Posted February 15, 2019 6:31 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Opioid related deaths are on the minds of more and more Canadians.
That’s according to an Angus Reid Institute poll, which finds a large majority (85%) of people across the country would be in favour of compulsory treatment for those battling an opioid addiction.
Shachi Kurl with the pollster says that type of treatment would take things to the extreme, in some cases. “In other words, forcing people to be treated, even if it’s not something that they want to do.”
“We also find that nearly half of Canadians are open to the idea of decriminalization of all drugs,” she added.
(Source: Angus Reid Institute)
According to the poll, nearly half of Canadians (46%), the opioid issue is a “serious problem,” while about a quarter (24%) call it a “crisis.”
“It’s really increased in other parts of the country, but still, there is the greatest sense of concern and urgency in British Columbia, particularly at the community level.”
(Source: Angus Reid Institute)
Kurl adds at 35 per cent, people in British Columbia are the most likely to say their own provincial government’s response to the opioid issue has been “appropriate.”
“The British Columbia government may not necessarily need to put more resources in. But at the same time, I think there is a desire to see perhaps some new methods to address and deal with the issue.”
Having said that, another 35 per cent of British Columbians argue “too few resources” have been put into addressing the issue.
(Source: Angus Reid Institute)
