State officials promise large-scale involuntary addiction and mental health treatment at Salt Lake City’s edge. Critics see “a prison, or a warehouse.”
Needless to say, people don’t go by choice, can’t leave when they want. Might be a concentration camp instead of a jail, since there’s no legal reason to force somebody into it:
As Mr. Shumway describes it, nearly two-thirds of the 1,300 homeless people potentially sent to the site could be there for involuntary treatment. About 400 beds would be set aside for psychiatric treatment. Another 400 beds would provide substance abuse treatment “as an alternative to jail,” he said, with entry and exit “not voluntary.”
My understanding is the number of individuals that seek voluntary municipal assistance has been extremely low (like literally double digits of individuals per year). Relapse for individuals addicted to fentanyl is quite high, although deaths have been declining. One grim theory is the most addicted individuals have already died (it was literally like 100,000 deaths per year nationally).