October 7, 2025
SHARE
Canadaland Politics
#151 BC is Forcing Drug Users into Rehab. Can it Work?
Noor Azrieh
Host/Producer
Sam Konnert
Producer/Host
Aviva Lessard
Senior Producer
Caleb Thompson
Audio Editor
max collins
Director of Audio
Jesse Brown
Host & Publisher

British Columbia is rolling back safe supply and decriminalization, and moving toward something very different: forcibly detaining and treating people with severe addictions. Alberta is already doing it. Ontario is considering it. Canada is entering a new era of drug policy, one called involuntary care.

Host Noor Azrieh sits down with legislative reporter Mark Page to unpack what’s happening in B.C., and then goes international to speak with Professor Alison Ritter about what Australia’s experience with involuntary care can teach us.

Host: Noor Azrieh

Credits: Aviva Lessard (Senior Producer), Sam Konnert (Producer), Noor Azrieh (Host/Producer), Caleb Thompson (Post Production), Max Collins (Director of Audio) Jesse Brown (Editor), Tony Wang (Artwork)

 

Guests: Mark Page, Alison Ritter

 

Background reading:

 

Sponsors: 

Head over to canadaland.oxio.ca and use code CANADALAND for your first month free!

 

Article is offering our listeners $50 off your first purchase of $100 or more! To claim, visit ARTICLE.COM/canadaland and the discount will be automatically applied at checkout

 

If you value this podcast, Support us! You’ll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You’ll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you’ll be a part of the solution to Canada’s journalism crisis, you’ll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody. 

 

You can listen ad-free on Amazon Music—included with Prime.

 

Vote for Best Host (News & Politics) at the Signal Awards! 

 

Can’t get enough Canadaland? Follow @Canadaland_Podcasts on Instagram for clips, announcements, explainers and more.

Watch the show on youtube!

More from this series
Can Silicon Valley mentality fix Canada’s stagnant defence sector, or are we scaling up its worst instincts?
May 19, 2026
NDP Leader Avi Lewis has a massive task ahead of him.
May 12, 2026
PM Mark Carney has managed to stitch together a majority in the House of Commons and has approval numbers we haven't seen in forever.
May 5, 2026
Is Alberta separatism being boosted by foreign “slop”?
April 28, 2026
DRIPA is at the center of one of the most divisive political fights in the country.
April 21, 2026
Prime Minister Mark Carney and the Liberals took over Montreal for their convention. But it felt less like a meeting of the minds and more like a lame Coachella. 
April 14, 2026
The Supreme Court of Canada just wrapped up its longest-ever hearing. The subject? Quebec’s Bill 21.
April 7, 2026
How do you build ambitious, nation-shaping infrastructure in a country where the human realities on the ground are so complex?
March 31, 2026
all podcasts arrow All Podcasts
Canadaland Politics