An anonymous reader quotes a report from VICE News: Canada will
[1]legalize medically assisted dying for people who are addicted to
drugs next spring, in a move some drug users and activists are calling
"eugenics." The country's medical assistance in dying (MAID) law, which
first came into effect in 2016, will be [2]expanded next March to give
access to people whose sole medical condition is mental illness, which
can [3]include substance use disorders. Before the changes take place,
however, a special parliamentary committee on MAID will regroup to
scrutinize the rollout of the new regulations, according to the
[4]Toronto Star.
Currently, people are eligible for MAID if they have a "grievous and
irremediable medical condition", such as a serious illness or
disability, that has put them in an advanced state of irreversible
decline and caused enduring physical or psychological suffering --
excluding mental illness. Anyone who receives MAID must also go through
two assessments from independent health care providers, among meeting
other criteria. [...] As Canada prepares to legalize MAID for people
with mental disorders, each province will have to develop its own
protocol for how to assess people. Dr. Simon Colgan, lead physician for
the Community Allied Mobile Palliative Partnership which provides
palliative care to homeless people, said MAID requests "must be
understood within the context of a person's lived experience and this
takes time and relationship." He said any MAID protocols for people
with substance use disorders should be made with the input of people
with lived experiences.
"I don't think it's fair, and the government doesn't think it's fair,
to exclude people from eligibility because their medical disorder or
their suffering is related to a mental illness," said Dr. David
Martell, physician lead for Addictions Medicine at Nova Scotia Health.
"As a subset of that, it's not fair to exclude people from eligibility
purely because their mental disorder might either partly or in full be
a substance use disorder. It has to do with treating people equally."
On the flip side, some drug users and harm reduction advocates say
they're upset drug users are being given access to MAID, as they feel
other public health measures are lacking. "I just think that MAID when
it has entered the area around mental health and substance use is
really rooted in eugenics. And there are people who are really
struggling around substance use and people do not actually get the kind
of support and help they need," said Zoe Dodd, a Toronto-based harm
reduction advocate.
Karen Ward, a drug user activist in Vancouver, said she considers the
expansion of MAID to include people with substance use disorders a
"statement in federal law that some people aren't really human." "The
government has made death accessible while a better life remains
impossible," she said. "Homes for all, guaranteed dignified incomes,
access to healthcare, education and employment: these aren't radical
demands."
References
1.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/4a3bdm/canada-will-legalize-medically-assisted-dying-for-people-addicted-to-drugs
2.
https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/cj-jp/ad-am/bk-di.html
3.
https://www.psychiatry.org/file library/psychiatrists/practice/dsm/apa_dsm-5-substance-use-disorder.pdf
4.
https://www.thestar.com/politics/federal/amid-worries-canada-has-gone-too-far-parliament-will-re-examine-expansion-of-maid-for/article_c97275d6-a0db-505a-8df2-9d680d17d856.html?source=newsletter&utm_source=ts_nl&utm_medium=email&utm_email=6F56498859EB1E39E5CAC2627F7BC1D7&utm_campaign=frst_202036
