Health Briefs
Geoffrey Blain
Issue date: 1/6/09 Section: Health
B.C. wants law to force mentally ill into shelters
The B.C. government says it wants to force mentally ill homeless people into shelters during extremely cold weather. But the idea, which is almost sure to face legal challenges, is receiving a mixed reaction from police, health and civil liberties groups.
"The concern is how do we deal with a severe weather situation for a person who is putting their life at risk?" said Rich Coleman, B.C.'s minister of housing and social development. "There's no law that technically says you can make them go to a shelter, and I think we need a law to compel them to go."
Coleman said he's looking at changing the province's Mental Health Act, which governs under what circumstances mentally ill people can be treated against their will.
"It's not easy, because section nine of the Charter (of Rights and Freedoms) comes into play," said Coleman.
He said the work took particular significance in December when a homeless woman in Vancouver burned to death after a candle she was using for heat set fire to her makeshift shelter on a city street.
The government would expect police and mental health workers to enforce the new policies, he said.
New laws in five states call for fire-safe cigarettes
Laws mandating stores only sell cigarettes that are slow-burning and fire-safe went into effect in five states on New Year's Day.
Delaware, Iowa, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Texas joined 17 other states in mandating the fire-safe cigarettes. Fifteen other states have laws that will take effect this year or next, according to the Coalition for Fire-Safe Cigarettes.
The paper on these "fire-safe" cigarettes is thicker in two separate spots so they will go out if they are not puffed when they burn to these areas. The idea is to prevent fires caused when cigarettes are left unattended.
Critics say that the fire-safe brands taste different and can extinguish a cigarette before a smoker is done smoking it.
About 800 Americans die each year in fires caused by careless smoking and the coalition estimates that number will be reduced if at least half the states pass the law.
The B.C. government says it wants to force mentally ill homeless people into shelters during extremely cold weather. But the idea, which is almost sure to face legal challenges, is receiving a mixed reaction from police, health and civil liberties groups.
"The concern is how do we deal with a severe weather situation for a person who is putting their life at risk?" said Rich Coleman, B.C.'s minister of housing and social development. "There's no law that technically says you can make them go to a shelter, and I think we need a law to compel them to go."
Coleman said he's looking at changing the province's Mental Health Act, which governs under what circumstances mentally ill people can be treated against their will.
"It's not easy, because section nine of the Charter (of Rights and Freedoms) comes into play," said Coleman.
He said the work took particular significance in December when a homeless woman in Vancouver burned to death after a candle she was using for heat set fire to her makeshift shelter on a city street.
The government would expect police and mental health workers to enforce the new policies, he said.
New laws in five states call for fire-safe cigarettes
Laws mandating stores only sell cigarettes that are slow-burning and fire-safe went into effect in five states on New Year's Day.
Delaware, Iowa, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Texas joined 17 other states in mandating the fire-safe cigarettes. Fifteen other states have laws that will take effect this year or next, according to the Coalition for Fire-Safe Cigarettes.
The paper on these "fire-safe" cigarettes is thicker in two separate spots so they will go out if they are not puffed when they burn to these areas. The idea is to prevent fires caused when cigarettes are left unattended.
Critics say that the fire-safe brands taste different and can extinguish a cigarette before a smoker is done smoking it.
About 800 Americans die each year in fires caused by careless smoking and the coalition estimates that number will be reduced if at least half the states pass the law.
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