When the Titanic Meets the Iceberg

As of this writing, the world’s concern is understandably and correctly focused on the coronavirus and the COVID-19 disease it begets. The lack of either a vaccine or a cure, along with its blitzkrieg-like spread onto every continent, is precisely the extreme crisis that draws all attention, to the exclusion of nearly all other problems. This is no less true of our elected and appointed leaders who have had to put almost all else aside in order to deal with this worsening emergency. Nevertheless, addictive illnesses have not gone away during this time; and some proposals have moved partially through the state legislative process in the past few weeks, including:

* A.809/S.877 – Requires jails and prisons to develop plans to provide peer counseling and peer health navigators to support the treatment of substance use disorders. S.877 was approved on a unanimous Health Committee vote and sent to the Appropriations Committee. Its companion, A.804, is in the Law and Public Safety Committee.

* S.491 and S.241 – are two bills that would reform some of the workings of Drug Court. Specifically, they would permit more offenses to be eligible for admission, liberalize the expungement process, and restrict Drug Court’s authority to revoke a person’s participation in the program, or to disallow certain individuals to be admitted in to the Intensive Supervision Program (ISP). Both of these legislative proposals were released by the Senate Judiciary Committee, and will now travel to the full Senate for a Floor vote.

Beyond these – over five thousand bills have been introduced in to the 2020/21 Legislative Term. The following are only some of the measures NCADD-NJ is monitoring:

* A.3004/S.805 – Permit people with drug distribution, or intent to distribute, convictions to be eligible for General Assistance (welfare) benefits

* S.1109 and S.1173 – Examine the issue of health insurers’ network adequacy

* S.151/A.672 – Limit the release of a patient’s private information to insurance carriers

* A.275/S.1112 – Reduce court-ordered fines owed by a drug or alcohol-dependent person upon the completion of a treatment program

* A.2684/S.1073 – Authorizes public libraries to maintain a supply of opioid antidotes and permits emergency administration of an opioid antidote by a librarian or another trained library employee

* A.3364 and S.2079 and A.2124/S.2170 – Establishes the Office of Alcohol, Drug, and Tobacco Use Control Policy (Drug Czar)

* S.1763/A.2280 – Prohibits certain substance use disorder therapy facilities from paying fees, commissions, or rebates to any person to refer patients to a program (patient brokering)

* S.1788/A.2642 – Requires hospitals to inquire whether patients have a substance use disorder and establish protocols for providing or referring to treatment

* A.3158/S.508 – Mandates that all public and nonpublic secondary schools annually conduct written or verbal substance use screening on all students using a particular screening program

* S.892/A.2649 – Requires nursing homes to provide training to staff in behavioral health issues

* A.3284 – Requires pharmacies to maintain a stock of opioid antidotes

* A.271 – Changes the name “Drug Court” to “Recovery Court”

* S.1121/A.3295 – Increases Medicaid reimbursement rates for certain evidence-based behavioral health services to Medicare levels

* A.2295/S.1731 – Mandates the curriculum in medical schools include instruction in the treatment and management of opiate-dependent patients that meets the minimum training requirements established for physicians to be authorized to prescribe narcotic drugs

* S.1844/A.2269 – Requires hospitals to include a warning in patient discharge papers concerning the risks of addiction and overdose associated with opioid medications

* A.1059 – Requires institutions of higher education to maintain a supply of opioid antidotes and permits the emergency administration of an opioid antidote by a campus medical professional or trained employee

* A.677 – Authorizes Overdose Prevention Centers (safe injection sites)

For more information on these bills, go to www.njleg.state.nj.us

In the midst of the uncertainty and dread caused by the coronavirus, NCADD-NJ staff and volunteer Advocates will continue to direct their work, and the concentration of the policy-makers, on repairing the devastation caused by behavioral health disorders.