The Manitoba government defended its plan Monday to detain people high on methamphetamines and other drugs for up to 72 hours at a new facility in central Winnipeg.

"For far too long, what we've been doing has not been working and we're taking a different approach because Manitobans have said they don't feel safe in their communities," Bernadette Smith, the minister of housing, addictions and homelessness, told reporters invited to tour the building, which is set to start operating by the end of the month.

"We know that people aren't feeling safe when they're doing substances either, and we want to intervene."

The NDP government recently passed a law to extend the amount of time highly intoxicated people can be detained to 72 hours from 24, in order to deal with the longer-lasting effec

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