Compulsory Drug Treatment in Canada: Historical Origins and Recent Developments

Abstract

In Canada, illicit drug use and addiction have traditionally been considered as a criminal justice problem and have been addressed from a legal perspective. Over the past century, a medical approach to drug addiction has slowly crept into the criminal justice processing of drug offenders. This has happened through the combination of principles of punishment with principles of addiction treatment in the sentencing of drug offenders to create a distinct application of ‘compulsory drug treatment’ in Canada. However, this evolution has occurred sporadically over time, with punishment and coercion as predominantly the main approach to dealing with this population. This evolution has recently culminated in Canada with the development of two criminal justice approaches to dealing with the substance use problems of drug offenders that incorporate concepts of punishment and treatment more equally than ever before – conditional sentencing and drug courts. This paper outlines the historical evolution of concepts of ‘compulsory treatment’, discusses such examples of contemporary ‘compulsory treatment’ as conditional sentencing and drug courts, and analyses the implications, concerns and challenges associated with these tools currently used in the sentencing of drug offenders in the Canadian context.

Compulsory treatment of drug use in Southeast Asian countries

“…Internationally, more than 2/3 of all countries have (mostly criminal) legislation for compulsory drug treatment (Israelsson and Gerdner 2012). Considering compulsory treatment as involuntary without alternative, it is being reported in the published literature from many countries globally, including several within the EU, in the USA and Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Asian countries (Leukefeld and Tims 1988;Fischer, Roberts et al 2002;Birgden and Grant 2010). In an advocacy brief, the International Drug Policy Consortium summarized that evidence-based treatment programmes remain scarce in Latin American countries.…”

Modalités et enjeux du traitement sous contrainte auprès des toxicomanes

“…En ce qui concerne plus particulièrement le cas des délinquants toxicomanes, on rapporte dans l'histoire juridique canadienne quelques tentatives pour instaurer un régime de traitement obligatoire pour des individus ayant contrevenu à la loi et reconnus comme nécessitant des soins en ce qui a trait à la toxicomanie (Fisher, Roberts et Kirst, 2002). Une première initiative a été tentée dans le cadre de l'adoption de la Loi sur les stupéfiants en 1961 5 .…”

Substance abuse treatment and pressures from the criminal justice system: data from a provincial client monitoring system

“…The relationship between specialized addiction treatment services and the criminal justice system has been of long‐standing interest to researchers, treatment providers and policy makers (Weisner 1987; Weisner 1990; Peters 1992; Wild 1999; Wild, Roberts & Cooper 2002). Legal mandates and pressures from the criminal justice system, including treatment as a condition of probation or parole, court‐ordered treatment and specialized drug courts represent an important type of formal social control measures which bring people into treatment (Room 1989; Weisner 1990; Gostin 1991; Wells‐Parker 1995; Belenko 1998; Wild, Roberts & Cooper 2002; see Giffen, Endicott & Lambert (1991) and Fisher, Roberts & Kirst) for historical Canadian overviews).…”