Interesting situation that has highlighted for me, the complicated and delicate balance of personal freedom and government intrusion.
My neighbor drinks too much. She has alcohol-induced tachycardia, so her life consists of drinking the equivalent of 20 shots of vodka per day until she calls EMS. She is in the hospital every 3-5 days and passed out on her floor in the meantime. She is over 65 and I must be on some sort of government subsidy b/c I know she hasn't had a full time job in the last 15 years.
It's amazing, the women needs help, she's killing herself. Every trip to the hospital involves a dozen people (EMS, hospital staff, social workers, etc.). But nobody can legally commit her to an alcohol program or force her to stop. But we all end up footing the bill for her actions.
My wife and I are at wit's end b/c seeing a human being crawl up the driveway with a brown paper bag is a trully pathetic sight. I guess it's a free country, but I can't believe anyone really makes a decision to kill themselves slowly and lie in their own filth all day.
Interested to know if anyone has seen a similar situation, how it's handled in other countries/states/counties, etc. I'm in SF California and shocked that with all the "feel good" services available (medicinal marajuana clinics, etc), no one can intervene to help this woman.