A twist on ‘involuntary commitment’: Some heroin users request it

Inpatient treatment programs for heroin and opioid dependence can be so difficult to get into in some parts of the country that drug users who want to quit are voluntarily asking judges to lock them up — just to guarantee they’ll get help.
In Massachusetts, that’s happening via a 46-year-old law that was designed for family members to commit their loved ones to a locked facility when they are deemed “a danger to themselves or others” because of drug or alcohol abuse