NYCLU on Adams Push to Expand Involuntary Commitment for Substance Use Disorders   

NEW YORK CITY – Today, New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced a new proposal to allow medical professionals to involuntarily remove and commit to hospitals people who are struggling with substance use disorders. In response, the New York Civil Liberties Union released the following statement attributable to Executive Director Donna Lieberman: 

“For too long, politicians have tried to arrest and coerce people out of substance and alcohol use and misuse, and the Mayor’s latest proposal is part of the same old, failed playbook. 

“Forcing people struggling with substance use into treatment will not deliver recovery to the person or real community safety. Forced treatment can greatly increase the risk of a fatal overdose, raises serious due process and civil liberties concerns, and contributes to harmful stereotypes about people with substance use disorders. 

“It is lost on no one that the Mayor is pushing this dangerous policy at a time when the Trump administration is cracking down on vulnerable people. If the Adams administration is serious about addressing substance use disorders, they need to invest in voluntary, evidence-based, low-barrier treatment options as opposed to coercion.” 

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