OLDER AND WIDER

 I’m 67 years old and am trying to recall being 27. Back then, I was idealistic, motivated and smart enough to get by. To be sure, 67 isn’t 27. I now know, and have experienced, more, and that seasoning hasn’t dimmed my ardor to topple injustice but has served to only better inform it. The decades have certainly given me more to think about. After marinating in the stew of the state’s legislative processes for lo these many years, there remains one question unresolved in my ruminations. Is the state government relevant to the average person in New Jersey? Or, is it just a collection of rascals acting on their petty ambitions off to the side of anything that really matters? Both assertions are on full display daily. However, I would argue that the government is capable of doing both a significant amount of good as well as bad.

NCADD-NJ’S Public Affairs Unit and Advocacy program are the vehicles for warriors (young and old) to battle for a better human condition. Our staff and volunteers have had a measurable impact on the crafting of public policy in the Garden State. In particular, we’ve seen enacted, expungement reform, drug court expansion, and enhanced substance misuse therapy for the incarcerated, to name merely three. In general, NCADD-NJ has been in the vanguard of the 180-degree change of perception of substance misuse as an illness that requires treatment and recovery services from an earlier view that saw it as a symptom of poor judgment that could be corrected by punishment.

Listed below are just a few of the measures moving in the state Legislature in the final quarter of 2018. They have two things in common. First, they all would improve the quality of life for those battling with addiction. Second, none would have made it as far as they have without the principled and experienced  efforts of the people living with that struggle and their families.

* A.2031/S.1339 – Ensures that insurance coverage for behavioral health care be on a par with that for medical and surgical services, and enhances oversight and enforcement of mental health and addiction parity laws

* A.4866 – Requires institutions of higher education to maintain a supply of opioid antidotes and permits the emergency administration of same by campus medical professionals or trained employees

* A.4513 – Establishes a gross income tax credit of up to $5,000 per year for physicians, physician assistants and advanced practice nurses who volunteer to provide opioid use disorder therapy in a drug treatment program   

* S.2330 – Allows persons convicted of certain drug offenses to qualify for a casino employee license

* A.4131 – Establish vehicle staffing and performance standards, as well as, review and reporting requirements for non-emergency Medicaid transportation

* AJR 70/SJR 94 – Establish a temporary task force to examine how best to treat individuals who experience multiple opioid overdoses and reversals; and make recommendations to the Governor and Legislature

* A.4546/S.491 – Requires public and private high schools to annually conduct written or verbal substance screenings on all students using a particular program (SBIRT – Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment)

* A.1467 – Facilitate the establishment of four new peer-to-peer recovery community centers

* A.216 – Mandate police training for interactions with people who may have behavioral health issues

* S.2100/A.3456 – Remove prohibition on voting by persons on probation, parole or incarcerated

* S.2244/A.3292 – Mandate that all prescription opioid medication include a warning sticker advising patients of the risk of addiction and overdose

* A.3288/S.948 - Designate sober living homes as beneficial uses in the context of the Municipal Land Use Act

* S.2321/A.3898 – Authorize public libraries to maintain a supply of opioid antidotes and permits emergency administration by trained library personnel

* S.1324/A.1189 – Mandate that a portion of forfeited assets in certain drug cases be directed to fund drug treatment

Ed Martone
Policy Analyst

MAKE AMERICA WELL AGAIN

 The National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence of New Jersey, its volunteer Advocates, staff, and supporters embrace their duty to help focus public officials’ on the implementation of policies that will promote therapy and recovery over stigma and punishment. We have continued to do this work in the first year of Governor Phil Murphy’s term and with the new and returning members of the 2018/19 state Legislature. A quarter of the legislative Term has concluded and there are a number of bills pending in the State Capitol that deserve the consideration of drug policy activists. These include:

S.1339/A.2031 – Enhance private insurance coverage of behavioral health services on a par with physical, medical reimbursements – This measure would require insurance carriers to submit more fulsome data on efforts they have undertaken to adhere to parity requirements, give the state Department of Banking and Insurance greater authority to enforce parity compliance, and make the information publicly available. It is anticipated that this proposal will be moved within the next few months.

AJR70/SJR94 – Establish a temporary Task Force to examine how best to treat individuals who experience multiple opioid overdoses and reversals; and make recommendations to the Governor

and Legislature

A.3741/S.2415 – Mandate that all pharmacies sell hypodermic needles and syringes to any customer over eighteen - Further, the pharmacy must make information available concerning both the safe disposal of used needles and local resources for substance misuse therapy.

S.491 – Require public and private high schools to annually conduct written or verbal substance screenings on all students using a particular program ( SBIRT – Screening, Brief intervention and Referral to Treatment)

A.1467 – Facilitate the establishment of four new peer-to-peer recovery community centers

A.216 – Mandate police training for interactions with people who may have behavioral health issues

S.2100/A.3456 – Remove prohibition on voting by persons on parole, probation or incarcerated

A.3292/S.2244 – Mandate that all prescription opioid medication include a warning sticker advising patients of the risk of addiction and overdose

S.1756/A.4273 – Require insurance carriers to reimburse for Suboxone and Subutex

A.3288/S.948 – Designate sober living homes as beneficial uses in the context of the Municipal Land Use Act

A.1189/S.1324 – Mandate that a portion of forfeited assets in certain drug cases be directed to fund drug treatment

A.3838/S.2321 – Authorize public libraries to maintain a supply of opioid antidotes and permits emergency administration by trained library personnel

A.4273/S.1756 – Require health benefits coverage for buprenorphine and naloxone under certain conditions

A.4131 – Establish vehicle staffing and performance standards, as well as, review and reporting requirements for non-emergency Medicaid transportation

A measure that was signed in to law at the end of August, was A.542/S.1830. This legislation requires al NJ high schools to maintain a stock of the opioid overdose antidote, naloxone (brand name NARCAN). The school nurse, or other trained staff, are authorized to administer the reversal drug in an emergency. Those utilizing the drug in an emergency situation would be indemnified from any criminal, civil or disciplinary liability. Further, the manufacturer of NARCAN (Adapt Pharmaceuticals) has agreed to donate up to eight dosages of the antidote to each school, thus allowing the school to avoid the cost of stocking the reversal drug.

For more on these proposals, or for contact information for your representatives, see the N.J. Legislature’s website: www.njleg.state.nj.us

TOO LATE FOR PESSIMISM

Despite the ever-deepening, hellish pit that is the present opiate crisis - and – the White House’s apparent conclusion that kneeling football players merit more scrutiny than the country’s on-going worst health tragedy in the modern era – Garden State decision makers in recent times can point with distinction to a number of largely positive improvements in addictions and recovery policies. To be sure, much more needs to be done. Yet, in the just-concluded 2016/17 Legislative Term, a Democratic Senate and Assembly along with a Republican Governor, can note with pride some of the proposals that made it into law. The following are some:

S.1266 – Establish a permanent, statewide sterile needle exchange program

A.2292 – Require a review of the Core Curriculum Content Standards to ensure that guidance for substance misuse instruction provided to public school students incorporates the most recent evidence-based standards and practices

A.3744 – Establishes law enforcement assisted addiction and recovery referral programs

S.601 – Permits certain persons with drug possession convictions to be eligible for General Assistance and Emergency Housing Assistance

S.384 – Requires correctional facilities to provide prisoners with medications for chronic illnesses that were prescribed prior to incarceration

S.3083 – Provides immunity to emergency personnel for the administration of up to three doses of an opioid antidote This proposal was in response to the frequent need to administer multiple dosages of naloxone in the event of a Fentanyl overdose.

S.1710 – Permits ambulatory care facilities to provide primary health care and behavioral health services under a single license

A.2430 – Requires that, when a health care professional or first responder administers an opioid antidote to a person experiencing a drug overdose, the individual must be provided with information concerning substance misuse treatment resources, including information on the availability of opioid antidotes.

S.2964 – Prohibits residential substance use disorder treatment facilities and aftercare facilities (including sober living homes and halfway houses) from denying admission to a person on the basis that the individual is currently receiving medication assisted treatment

S.3306 – Prohibits certain public employment discrimination based upon an expunged criminal record

S.3307 – Revises procedures for expunging criminal records, including shortening some waiting periods for expungement eligibility and increasing the number of convictions that may be expunged.

S.3308 – Decreases the waiting period to expunge an entire juvenile criminal record from five years to three

S.3604 – Mandates that practitioners check prescription monitoring information before prescribing opioids to emergency patients

A.2619 – Requires that certain prisoners with detainers ( wanted for adjudication in another jurisdiction) be provided access to in-prison drug treatment programs

A.3/S.3 – Mandates health insurance coverage for treatment of substance use disorders; and places certain restrictions on the prescribing of opioids

S.307 – Creates a Veterans’ Diversion Program to divert veterans and active duty service members, charged with non-violent offenses and experiencing behavioral health problems, away from the criminal justice system and in to appropriate treatment

S.295 – Authorizes pharmacists to dispense opioid antidotes to patients without a prescription

S.2878 - Allows health care facilities to use shared clinical space when providing primary and behavioral health care for moderate behavioral health conditions

S.291 – Authorizes health care providers to engage in telemedicine

S.1840 – Prohibits charging a fee to stop publishing personal identifying information obtained through the criminal justice system

S.2721 – Implements person-first language and changes pejorative terminology in laws and regulations referring to individuals with substance use disorders

A.1662 – Requires the development and maintenance of a data dashboard report to advise of open bed availability in residential facilities providing behavioral health services

A.3944 – Directs the NJ Dept. of Education to develop an educational fact sheet for distribution to parents of student athletes and cheerleaders concerning the use, and misuse, of prescription opioids

A.2176 – Criminalizes the possession and sale of “flocka” or “flakka”

A.1661 – Mandates the enrollment of certain prisoners in to the Medicaid program

A.1549 – Requires health care professionals with the authority to write prescriptions for opioids, to complete continuing education courses regarding issues related to prescription opioids

A.3778 – Mandates that prescriptions be transmitted electronically to a pharmacy

To review any of the above in their entirety, go to the NJLegislature’s website.

As we embark upon the 2018/19 Legislative Term and welcome a new Governor, the NCADD-NJ Advocates and staff are pledged to continue pushing for the quality reforms and resources needed to help people in attaining, and retaining, sobriety.

Ed Martone

Policy Analyst