WINNIPEG — Manitobans who have experienced methamphetamine-induced psychosis and medical professionals have signed a petition to make drug arrests a “last resort.”
More than 200 people gathered on the Legislative grounds on Sunday to call for reform of newly opened detox centers designed to hold people for up to 72 hours if they cause public unrest.
“Do people in custody have access to phones? Do they shower? Will they be allowed to call the people they love – people who can provide hope, grounding and a reason to fight for recovery?” organizer Monica Ballantyne told the crowd.
Some people gathered at the legislature on Sunday to protest and sign a petition against the Manitoba government's introduction of a 72-hour detention period for people who use drugs in the Winnipeg legislature. (John Woods/Winnipeg Free Press)
“Connection is not a luxury. This is a lifeline.”
Ballantyne collected signatures to lobby the province for oversight, including independent reviews of arrests and public reporting of findings related to Bill 48.
The Protective Detention and Treatment of Intoxicated Persons Act was passed on November 5th. The next day he received royal approval.
The NDP government said the changes are needed to address the meth crisis and reduce the burden on emergency departments.
“Our government is committed to ensuring that people with addiction who are a danger to themselves and others are stabilized,” Bernadette Smith, secretary of Housing, Addictions and Homelessness, said in a Nov. 5 press release.
Smith said these people will not be criminally charged, but rather will be provided with “appropriate care and treatment options.”
Chelsea Smith said she was “really stunned” to hear the minister and Premier Wab Kinew supported the approach. She held a sign that compared the NDP's new drug policy to “NO HUMAN RIGHTS.” Other participants used the slogan: “Don't mind the cages!”
“These facilities don't work. What does work is compassion and community care, harm reduction initiatives like supervised consumption sites, safe supply, housing,” Smith said, citing her first-hand experience when she was once a regular methamphetamine user.
Leslie Brown, a nurse who attended the event, expressed concern that the new facilities were inhumane.
Brown said the new rules encourage Manitobans to be “locked up” without charges or mental health clearance.
“People have the right to refuse care, treatment, whatever they offer,” she added.
No one can be held for more than 24 hours in a traditional place of detention, but according to the law, the premises of a “pretrial detention center” can be used for three days.
The new law requires people to be seen by a medical professional if they remain intoxicated after a full day at the center. This allows for compulsory medical examinations.
“We can't expect people to make healthy, life-changing decisions when they're detoxing alone, locked in a cell, scared, confused and cut off from the world,” Ballatyne said.
A social activist with experience of being in a sobering-up center came to the legislative body in a ribbon skirt.
Participants participated in smudging and drumming while listening to many people talk about their detox experiences.
One speaker, a member of the Peguis First Nation who asked to be known as the “Welcoming Red Eagle Woman,” called on the Kinew government to “go back to the drawing board.”
“Trauma-informed approaches work,” she said. “Grazing systems (no).”
Organizers' multi-party petition demands the province prioritize voluntary, trauma-informed options over detention.
It also requires the province to “support the cultural safety of Indigenous peoples” and provide detained people with access to culturally significant ceremonies and healing resources.
» Winnipeg Free Press
