Expanding Coercive Treatment Is the Wrong Solution for the Opioid Crisis

Massachusetts’s proposed STEP Act would allow clinicians and police to impose 72-hour involuntary holds on individuals with substance use disorders without judicial oversight, but evidence suggests forced treatment leads to higher relapse rates and could deter people from seeking help. Rather than expanding coercive measures that strain already overburdened treatment facilities and undermine civil liberties, policymakers should invest in evidence-based alternatives such as expanded treatment capacity, prescription monitoring, and emergency department case management.