Forced drug treatment not effective, Saskatoon police chief tells local podcast
"You can force them to be present, but you know you have to have someone willing to participate in order for it to be effective."
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Alberta’s provincial government and the chief of police in Saskatchewan’s capital city have mused about supporting involuntary addictions treatment for drug users; experts have warned against it and called for improved wraparound supports.
Forced drug treatment was the subject of a recent episode of Hard Knox Talks, a Saskatoon podcast hosted by Daniel Hearn, which features stories about people’s experiences with substance use. Hearn has been open about his own experience.
He asked Saskatoon police Chief Troy Cooper to weigh in on the issue.
Cooper offered an observation: a person has to be willing to participate for treatment to be effective.
After a discussion about using coercion to get people to enter treatment programs, Cooper said if Alberta’s proposed involuntary treatment law is handled properly and restricted to cases where people require intervention, “I could see how that would be supported.”
He told Hearn there are people in Saskatoon who have spent 30 or 40 nights in police custody already this year and have refused the treatment offered to them.
“I do understand enough about drug treatment to know you can’t force someone to participate. You can force them to be present, but you know you have to have someone willing to participate in order for it to be effective,” he said.
The matter was raised during a meeting of Regina’s board of police of commissioners in June, when now-retired police Chief Evan Bray said he would “love” to see secure custody legislation as an option and that some may never decide to “get themselves clean and healthy without being forced to.”
In an interview, Hearn said he has heard stories from guests on his podcast, especially family members, about wishing forced treatment was an option.
Coercive treatment strategies do exist in Saskatchewan, and he knows many who have taken part in treatment under court orders or probation conditions, he said.
“These aren’t new. But when it comes to forcing a broader community of people who use substances into one solution, that isn’t going to work for everyone. It starts to bring more harms than good, in my opinion,” Hearn said.
He hopes if Alberta does move toward forced treatment, it has a broad and robust spectrum of services to wrap around the coercion, he added.
“If you force everyone who is using substances problematically into a 12-step recovery program … I don’t think it’s going to have any success — and quite honestly, I could see it bringing more harm than good.
“When you force someone into 28 days of treatment and they come out of that treatment with no wraparound services, no aftercare, no safe housing, no programming or peer support or what have you, that is when they’re at a higher risk of relapse and ultimately, overdose.”
There have also been calls for decriminalization of illicit drugs for personal use within different jurisdictions in Canada. Health Canada approved a three-year pilot project in B.C. that runs to Jan. 31, 2026, under which some drugs are decriminalized for personal use. The exemption under federal drug legislation means criminal penalties are removed for people caught possessing a small amount of certain illegal drugs for personal use.
What has been consistently missing from the discussion is that the focus has completely been on abstinence and the drug use itself, but not enough on quality of life and addressing underlying issues that lead to substance use disorder, said Kayla DeMong, executive director of Prairie Harm Reduction in Saskatoon.
It’s medically and professionally recognized that substance use disorder is a symptom of underlying trauma and often underlying mental health issues, she noted.
“We’re also not having a conversation around, if we force people into treatment, are we forcing them into treatment programs that are actually practising the best standard of treatment? Which currently, our government-funded treatment centres are not,” DeMong said.
Saskatoon police updated their own policy after the federal prosecution service issued a directive saying simple drug possession charges would proceed only where there were public safety concerns, otherwise promoting the use of diversion and alternative measures. The police force made policy and training changes in 2021.
However, Cooper told Hearn police are frustrated by the lack of options available in the health-care community.
Police supported a drug diversion model in which someone could be diverted to health care and away from the criminal justice system, “But if there’s nowhere to divert them to, then the system is broken right before it starts,” Cooper said in the podcast.
In a prepared statement, the Ministry of Health said the province is investing millions in mental health and addictions services, including expanding homes for youth with chronic mental health and addiction issues.
The ministry said the government is “monitoring efforts in other jurisdictions,” including Alberta, and working with municipal leaders.
DeMong said criminalizing people who use substances hasn’t been effective. For people to move out of substance use disorder, they need supports to deal with underlying issues, she said.
“Criminalizing social issues doesn’t fix a thing. Then it just overburdens the justice system that doesn’t have the capacity to deal with it.
“For the people that are accessing services from Prairie Harm Reduction, substance use disorder is just one piece of a puzzle that is very, very complicated to build. And what is far more important to be dealing with is the trauma and mental health issues and the housing crisis.”
Hearn said good services are available — including Prairie Harm Reduction — but it’s not enough. The service spectrum could be broadened to include opportunities to succeed and serve the community, including having a job.
Even accessing services, such as going to central intake, can be very challenging or overwhelming, and the perception that people aren’t trying hard enough is harmful, Hearn added.
“The idea of going to a detox and (hearing), ‘OK, well you’ve got to call back every day to stay on the waiting list,’ that’s like asking someone to act sane and well before they can get help to be sane and well.”
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