Read today in The Sun, Ben's Psychiatrist can have him committed to a lock up, if he sees fit.
What I want to know is, exactly what other laws does Ben have to break before he is eligible?
It’s separate from the issue of the laws he’s broken.
The judge hearing the offence is your man there.
For the psychiatrist to have him committed against his will, the bar is set pretty high, and in my opinion should be.
I’m not an expert by any means, but as far as I’m aware to be committed he needs to be an immediate risk to himself or others.
Not, will probably do something similar in a month, or definitely within the year…
You can’t hold adults against their will on that basis.
Good points made. We're seemingly getting a bit better and not jailing people purely for possession. I think society is learning that not all addicts are necessarily scum. If they physically don't harm anyone else but themselves, then they should have free will to inject whatever they ■■■■■■ like. However, it's not as though decriminilisation will lead to "free" drugs, they will still have to financially support their habit. Chances are they will still do this via burglaries, armed robberies etc. I don't see how we'll ever stop this. It's not something where a perfect solution will ever be found.
The govt. could have clinics where the users are registered and are helped with their addiction. The govt. would need to supply all drugs (will never happen) with a view to weaning the addicts of their addiction. This should (1) minimize the need for crime to support the addicts’ habit and stop the dealers, manufacturers etc profiting from illegal drugs. Would be (2) costly to the government but if run well and if successful there would be less need for these clinics and therefore reduce costs as hopefully the number of addicts are reduced. So much more can be said but essentially the government need to invest on a different and radical approach to eradicate the use of illegal drugs.
(1) Almost eliminate it completely I think.
(2) Not overly costly, the drugs will be good quality and very cheap. The current illegality of them pushes up their cost enormously.
Awesome post.
Not sure how reducing the cost and improving the quality and availability of drugs is going to reduce the number of those dependent on drugs.
Reducing the number of people using a substance would only be one aim. Recognising that there are a lot of people who prefer other things to alcohol, and allowing them access to a regulated, safe, and reasonably priced supply, just like alcohol and tobacco users have, and thereby allowing them to become productive members of society would probably be top of the tree for me.
In hindsight does anyone believe a regulated supply of alcohol & tobacco has been a positive move for society? Not sure why simply adding extra choices to that mix is going to make it better. The other issue I see with a gvt supplying drugs in particular drugs that can completely ruin your mental & physical health is liability. We have seen decades of lawsuits against tobacco companies for legally selling a toxic product so why would any Gvt see that role as part of their responsibility?
Are you saying that if the government allows people to take drugs in a controlled environment that these same people can sue the government if they develop negative side effects? If so, that is certainly something I’ve never considered.
Certainly hasn’t been the case so far. And alcohol has done some major league damage. He’s just straw clutching.
As I pointed out it has very much been the case so far with Tobacco. If you can seek damages from Phillip Morris then why not from a Gvt stupid enough to hand out substances they know are severely harmful. Big tobaccos defence for decades was of course that they didn’t know all the harm it was doing, can that ignorance be even suggested with drugs like ice & heroin? Of course its all hypothetical because the legislation doesn’t exist but the point stands that if the gvt are making money from dealing out dangerous products then why can’t they be sued for the damage it causes? I still can’t see why any Gvt would want to distribute dangerous substances anyway.
A friend of mine got committed after going ape on a meth binge. Took a fair bit of madness to get him into Graylands. I’m talking “the CIA have my house bugged and I have to find where it is” sort of madness. The smashing of windows didn’t do it, neither the tearful pleas from his mother at the end of her tether, no number of phone calls to the police from frightened neighbours, roof tiles at the coppers is what finally got the authorities to act. This is after six or so days of increasingly peculiar behaviour. He went totally mental as he was taken away. After a week he was allowed to make calls and he spoke to me. Reckoned he hadn’t slept and eaten so well in ages and was enjoying the experience. Even laughing at some of the other nutjobs in there. He was in for two weeks in total and wasn’t a threat to himself or the public on release. Problem was he was clean but not committed to being off the gear and was back on it within a few hours.
Read today in The Sun, Ben's Psychiatrist can have him committed to a lock up, if he sees fit.
More than a bit of a beat-up there. That’s hardly news. Psychiatrists DO have the power to have a patient committed if they see fit, it’s part of the job.
But there’s a pretty high bar to ‘seeing fit’
(I dont know what the details are) and even if it does happen, not many people STAY committed long enough for effective lasting treatment. It’s normally a week or so to let the immediate crisis pass, and then they get released again, partly out of a very legit concern for patient rights, and partly cos there’s always pressure to vacate beds for the continual stream of new patients in the same situation.
More depressing than cool, Bro. The point I was making is if the authorities are going to lock up a meth addict for their own good, a two week drying out stint is unlikely to make any real difference. They need to research what works, build the required facilities, find and/or train the appropriate staff and fund it properly.
A friend of mine got committed after going ape on a meth binge. Took a fair bit of madness to get him into Graylands. I'm talking "the CIA have my house bugged and I have to find where it is" sort of madness. The smashing of windows didn't do it, neither the tearful pleas from his mother at the end of her tether, no number of phone calls to the police from frightened neighbours, roof tiles at the coppers is what finally got the authorities to act. This is after six or so days of increasingly peculiar behaviour. He went totally mental as he was taken away. After a week he was allowed to make calls and he spoke to me. Reckoned he hadn't slept and eaten so well in ages and was enjoying the experience. Even laughing at some of the other nutjobs in there. He was in for two weeks in total and wasn't a threat to himself or the public on release. Problem was he was clean but not committed to being off the gear and was back on it within a few hours.
A friend of mine got committed after going ape on a meth binge. Took a fair bit of madness to get him into Graylands. I'm talking "the CIA have my house bugged and I have to find where it is" sort of madness. The smashing of windows didn't do it, neither the tearful pleas from his mother at the end of her tether, no number of phone calls to the police from frightened neighbours, roof tiles at the coppers is what finally got the authorities to act. This is after six or so days of increasingly peculiar behaviour. He went totally mental as he was taken away. After a week he was allowed to make calls and he spoke to me. Reckoned he hadn't slept and eaten so well in ages and was enjoying the experience. Even laughing at some of the other nutjobs in there. He was in for two weeks in total and wasn't a threat to himself or the public on release. Problem was he was clean but not committed to being off the gear and was back on it within a few hours.
that is so sad.
He’s better now. Doesn’t use hard drugs anymore. Seldom even drinks. What was weird about it was that it all happened when he was around his early 30’s. Up until then he had worked consistently since leaving high school, played ammo football, had a partner, young child, had a mortgage, credit card, you know, a regular life. We used to party a bit when younger but it was strictly a weekend activity. Then seemingly out of the blue he quit his job. He started knocking around with some different people and before long he was injecting meth daily. When I say he’s better now I mean better in respect to his health. Can’t say the same for his relationship with his now ex, son, family, friends etc. His reputation is shattered and will never recover. You had to see this sh*t up close to believe it was actually happening.
A friend of mine got committed after going ape on a meth binge. Took a fair bit of madness to get him into Graylands. I'm talking "the CIA have my house bugged and I have to find where it is" sort of madness. The smashing of windows didn't do it, neither the tearful pleas from his mother at the end of her tether, no number of phone calls to the police from frightened neighbours, roof tiles at the coppers is what finally got the authorities to act. This is after six or so days of increasingly peculiar behaviour. He went totally mental as he was taken away. After a week he was allowed to make calls and he spoke to me. Reckoned he hadn't slept and eaten so well in ages and was enjoying the experience. Even laughing at some of the other nutjobs in there. He was in for two weeks in total and wasn't a threat to himself or the public on release. Problem was he was clean but not committed to being off the gear and was back on it within a few hours.
that is so sad.
He’s better now. Doesn’t use hard drugs anymore. Seldom even drinks. What was weird about it was that it all happened when he was around his early 30’s. Up until then he had worked consistently since leaving high school, played ammo football, had a partner, young child, had a mortgage, credit card, you know, a regular life. We used to party a bit when younger but it was strictly a weekend activity. Then seemingly out of the blue he quit his job. He started knocking around with some different people and before long he was injecting meth daily. When I say he’s better now I mean better in respect to his health. Can’t say the same for his relationship with his now ex, son, family, friends etc. His reputation is shattered and will never recover. You had to see this sh*t up close to believe it was actually happening.
Similar thing happened with a relative of mine. Family relationships and friendships ruined. The difference is, despite interventions and attempts to kick it, he’s still on it.
A friend of mine got committed after going ape on a meth binge. Took a fair bit of madness to get him into Graylands. I'm talking "the CIA have my house bugged and I have to find where it is" sort of madness. The smashing of windows didn't do it, neither the tearful pleas from his mother at the end of her tether, no number of phone calls to the police from frightened neighbours, roof tiles at the coppers is what finally got the authorities to act. This is after six or so days of increasingly peculiar behaviour. He went totally mental as he was taken away. After a week he was allowed to make calls and he spoke to me. Reckoned he hadn't slept and eaten so well in ages and was enjoying the experience. Even laughing at some of the other nutjobs in there. He was in for two weeks in total and wasn't a threat to himself or the public on release. Problem was he was clean but not committed to being off the gear and was back on it within a few hours.
that is so sad.
He’s better now. Doesn’t use hard drugs anymore. Seldom even drinks. What was weird about it was that it all happened when he was around his early 30’s. Up until then he had worked consistently since leaving high school, played ammo football, had a partner, young child, had a mortgage, credit card, you know, a regular life. We used to party a bit when younger but it was strictly a weekend activity. Then seemingly out of the blue he quit his job. He started knocking around with some different people and before long he was injecting meth daily. When I say he’s better now I mean better in respect to his health. Can’t say the same for his relationship with his now ex, son, family, friends etc. His reputation is shattered and will never recover. You had to see this sh*t up close to believe it was actually happening.
Similar thing happened with a relative of mine. Family relationships and friendships ruined. The difference is, despite interventions and attempts to kick it, he’s still on it.
It’s funny how addiction works. In my mate’s experience, he just grew tired of the lifestyle. Couldn’t be arsed with it anymore and gave it away. It wasn’t a conscious decision either, it evolved over time. Constant lying and scheming is hard work and being surrounded by like-minded people is depressing after a while. I suppose once he had come to the conclusion that things were sh*t it was easier to stop than when he wasn’t mentally ready.
When I first moved to Melbourne 20 odd years ago I was walking down Smith St and got that… being my real name is Jason and he had a real strong Vietnamese accent… caused hilarious levels of confusion and a possible dangerous situation where an angry looking junkie thought I was teasing him. Good friends pulled me away and explained afterwards.
