Addiction doesn’t wait for someone to feel ready to heal. Often, by the time it’s undeniable, it’s already rearranged their life—relationships frayed, jobs lost, health teetering. Residential treatment is designed to be both intensive and immediate, offering structured therapy and medical support over weeks rather than months. But what if someone isn’t ready—or refuses? Can you make someone go to rehab in California?
Addiction treatment programs lean on evidence-based approaches like cognitive-behavioral therapy and medication-assisted treatment (MAT) to reduce cravings and withdrawal symptoms. They are compact, effective, and often just long enough to open a door that many people didn’t know was even there. This leads to the potential for being effective, even for people who don’t want to be there.
Can You Make Someone Go to Rehab in California?
California allows involuntary treatment (the technical term for making someone go to rehab in California) under specific conditions, though it’s not as simple as signing a form and dropping someone off at a rehab center.
It’s designed as a last resort, often when addiction has progressed to a life-threatening or deeply destabilizing point. The laws balance two competing forces—a person’s individual rights (and to make their own decisions) and the urgent need for intervention when someone’s decision-making is proving to be dangerous to themselves and/or others.
When involuntary treatment is an option
If someone is deemed a danger to themselves or others, or if they’re so inhibited by addiction that they cannot provide for their basic needs, involuntary treatment becomes an option.
It’s not about control but about protection, about catching someone before they hit a point of no return. And that protection isn’t just physical—it’s psychological, emotional, and chemical.
What Are the Involuntary Treatment Laws in California?
When asking, “Can you make someone go to rehab in California?” We need to get into the laws just a bit. California’s Welfare and Institutions Code 5150 is the first stop on this road, authorizing a 72-hour psychiatric hold for evaluation and crisis stabilization.
If addiction fuels severe mental health symptoms, this hold can lead to further treatment. For substance abuse alone, Laura’s Law and conservatorship laws can also be used to petition for treatment when someone is incapable of making safe decisions.
Conservatorship, for example, allows a trusted individual to make decisions on behalf of someone incapacitated by addiction or mental illness. It’s not permanent—it’s reviewed regularly—but it’s a legal acknowledgment that sometimes we need help making the choices we can no longer make ourselves.
How Do I File a Petition for Involuntary Addiction Treatment in California?
The process is structured and precise. The goal is to create a fair situation where rights are balanced with safety. Filing a petition involves:
- Documentation of behavior. Be ready to show patterns of harm, neglect, or inability to care for oneself due to addiction.
- Medical and psychiatric evaluations. Professionals often need to weigh in, providing evidence that the individual meets the criteria for involuntary treatment.
- Court intervention. In many cases, a judge must authorize the treatment after hearing testimony and reviewing evidence.
This process isn’t about punishment but protection. Addiction is so devastating because it hijacks decision-making pathways in the brain. When you feel like you have lost someone you love to a living addiction, it is because of this reality. Shifting priorities from survival and connection to the relentless pursuit of a substance.
Involuntary treatment is designed to step in when those pathways no longer lead to rational choices. Or worse, consistently leading to dangerous ones.
How to Get an evaluation today:
You can initiate the process by contacting local law enforcement or mental health professionals, who are authorized to place a 5150 hold for up to 72 hours for evaluation. This hold can be extended if necessary, following specific legal procedures.
What Happens if Someone Refuses Court-Ordered Rehab in California?
Refusal isn’t uncommon—addiction can make even self-destruction feel safer than change. But California courts have built-in consequences. There are various things that can happen, including jail time. Still, the goal isn’t punishment but persistence.
The courts and treatment programs often work together to reframe treatment not as a sentence but as a second chance.
Rights matter here, too. Patients retain the right to legal representation, the right to appeal decisions and the right to humane treatment during rehabilitation. This isn’t about taking power away but about giving it back—slowly, carefully, and under watchful guidance.
Where Science and Compassion Intersect
Addiction rewires the brain’s reward system, convincing it that the substance is more vital than food, shelter, or love. But laws like those in California recognize that free will sometimes gets tangled in those wires—and that untangling requires both science and compassion.
If you’re facing the heartbreaking reality of watching someone drown in addiction, don’t let fear or guilt keep you from acting. The laws exist not to punish but to protect. This is truly a second chance with structured paths toward healing when the people we love can’t find those paths themselves.
Getting Help with Addiction Treatment
If you have questions about addiction treatment options or need help navigating California’s laws on involuntary treatment, Covenant Hills Treatment Center in Orange County, California, can help. Call our team today. We can work through whether this step is the right one to take or if there are other intervention options available to you. Want to talk? Call now: 800-662-2873.
