Canada will legalize euthanasia for drug addicts next year, a move activists liken to “eugenics.”
When the country’s Medically Assisted Dying (MAID) Act changes in March 2024, mentally ill people, including those with substance abuse disorders, will be able to apply for assisted suicide without physical discomfort.
A special parliamentary committee will reconsider the move before it is rolled out in the coming months, as Canada’s political parties hold differing opinions.
More than 10,000 Canadians were killed in 2021, a tenfold increase from 2016, when the practice was legalized. In some cases these were people who lived in poverty and wanted to die.
MAID became legal in Canada in 2016. Since then, the eligibility rules have been relaxed several times – and rates have increased tenfold to around 10,000 cases in 2021
The euthanasia process in Canada begins with downloading a form online.
The applicant must answer a series of boxed questions and sign below. He must then get the signatures of witnesses. This is followed by a phone call and a home visit by a doctor.
If the application is approved by two different doctors, the person must wait 90 days from the time of administration, after which a doctor can administer the lethal drug by injection.
Currently, people who only suffer from mental illnesses such as depression and personality disorders, but have no physical complaints, are not entitled to assisted suicide.
A framework for assessing people with substance use disorders for MAID is being discussed at an annual scientific conference being held in Canada this week.
The workshop’s agenda is to teach participants and medical professionals how to “tell the difference between suicide and a reasonable desire to die.”
Dr. David Martell, chief of addiction medicine at Nova Scotia Health, who presented the framework at the conference, told VICE News, “I don’t think it’s fair, and the government doesn’t think it’s fair, to exclude people from eligibility to close.” because their health condition or suffering is related to a mental illness.
“As part of this, it is not fair to exclude people from participation simply because their mental disorder may be in whole or in part a substance use disorder. It’s about treating people equally.”
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Dr Martell said suicide could be related to a severe, sudden crisis or could occur in someone with a long-term psychiatric illness.
Someone with a well-founded wish to die would be someone who “thinks about the wish in a calm and measured way.” [their] The suffering is over and you can reflect on it.’
He added that people can show signs of both, making assessment difficult. Moreover, it is “virtually impossible” to distinguish whether the person is under the influence of drugs or alcohol, he said.
Currently, people are eligible for MAID if they have a “severe and irreversible condition,” such as a serious illness or disability that has caused an irreversible deterioration in their condition.
To be eligible for MAID, individuals must undergo two evaluations by independent health care providers.
Zoë Dodd, a harm reduction advocate from Toronto, told VICE News the practice amounts to eugenics.
She said, “I just think that now that MAID has moved into the realm of mental health and drug use, it’s really rooted in eugenics.”
“And there are people who are really struggling with drug use, and those people aren’t really getting the support and help that they need.”
Drug users and harm reduction advocates also told VICE News they are considering public health measures such as increasing access to overdose prevention facilities and medications like methadone, which is used to treat opioid use disorder.
They said that regulated drug supply and more housing and jobs would also help.
Dr. Martell, herself a MAID provider since 2016, agrees that health care options for people with substance use disorders are underfunded.
He said he hasn’t heard any requests for euthanasia from his drug patients, telling VICE, “I don’t like the idea that we can promote it or force it on people.”
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Crystal Leahy is an author and health journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a background in health and wellness, Crystal has a passion for helping people live their best lives through healthy habits and lifestyles.
