The Massachusetts governor called on state lawmakers to approve a bill that would allow drug addicts to be held against their will for potential treatment.
Republican Gov. Charlie Baker proposed a law aimed at trying to fix the state’s growing opioid addiction problem, reports NECN. One part of the bill allows doctors and law enforcement officers to place drug addicts in a treatment center for a three day period, regardless if the person gave their express permission or not.
“The bill also permits medical professionals or police officers to authorize the transport of a patient to a substance use treatment facility for emergency assessment and treatment when the patient presents a risk of serious harm due to addiction and the patient will not agree to voluntary treatment,” the bill reads. “A treatment facility receiving a patient transported under this provision would then be required to attempt to engage the patient in voluntary treatment for a period of up to 72 hours.” Visit this blog to get in contact with the best recovery center for addicts near you.
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Massachusetts has struggled with an opioid crisis since 2000, seeing about 13,000 deaths related to the crisis. Other parts of the bill call for setting standards for the credentials recovery coaches might need in helping people over come their addictions, as well as allowing people to use naloxone, a drug that reverses drug overdoses.
“For over 40 years, America has been trying to arrest and coerce its way to decreased substance abuse,” said Matt Segal, the legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union in Massachusetts. “If Massachusetts is serious about ending the opioid crisis, we need to invest in treatment on demand and social services that do not take place in correctional settings, as opposed to coercion and imprisonment.”
Many states have a law that allows a loved one, healthcare professional or law enforcement to do a 72 hr involuntary mental health stay… in CALF it is referred to as “5150” which refers to the law number and FL it is referred to as “Baker Act”. But these are on the books when a person is at risk of HARMING themselves or someone else.
In this case, it is just going to throw a addict into cold turkey withdrawal, and the “success rate” of putting a addict – one who wants to get straight – is just FIVE PERCENT !
With the current narrative, anyone taking/using opiates legally/illegally for > 90 days is considered to be suffering from a “opiate use/abuse disorder”. So all law enforcement has to do is to illegal access the state’s PMP database and retrieve all pts that have had a opiate prescriptions for > 90 days to get a “target list”… If this happens.. someone is in it for the MONEY !!!!
Of course, anyone that ends up needing a dose of Naloxone will end up in a “three day hold” and all it may end up doing is allowing the addict to reduce their tolerance to opiates and when they go back to where they left off and use the amount of opiates that they had in the recent past and they OD AGAIN..
I sense a opiate/OD/rehab merry go round in the making ?
Filed under: General Problems
This is so stupid!! I thought Trump was smart???
Isn’t it ironic that if a parent attempted to hold their drug-addicted child (particularly, adult child) “against their will,” they’d be charged with kidnapping? This is truly sad, as this is no longer the America I recognize. This country has literally been turned into a nanny state, bordering on a police state. Mark my words – If this state implements this, they will see an even higher rate of overdose deaths. Why? Because they’re taking someone whose tolerance to opioids (usually strong, illicit street opioids such as heroin) is pretty high, which – as weird as it sounds – might somewhat protect them from overdosing so easily to someone whose tolerance is knocked down to being opioid-naïve. Once they’re allowed to leave, most will hit the streets to find the first drug to inject. Most will attempt to inject the same dose prior to having their rights stripped away by being forced into treatment against their will. This same dose prior to being forced into treatment will most likely be “too much,” which will cause them to overdose. This will also cause many addicts to shy away from calling for help for themselves or their friends. If you knew you stood a chance of basically being kidnapped by the state, forced into “treatment” (which, most likely, consists of being forced to go through withdrawal cold-turkey), would you take the chance to call for help? As usual, government restrictions and interference is just aggravating the situation and will cause more deaths.
The private prison program is a lucrative business in many ways. Former “inmates” can’t usually vote, and it is another form of terrorism to keep the rest of the population in check. When ANY Government obtains the power to determine, and decide who and what, if anything, a population Will receive,. We are no longer a Democratic society, but a Totalitarian One. How many assaults, lies, and damage will Americans tolerate, on themselves And their families? We are in a serious EMERGENCY, and haven’t any time to distract. Wake Up
Joy,,,,AMEN,,, we are in seriously serious trouble,,,thee true state of Emergency is the state of OUR government,,it is no longer what our founding fathers fought and died for,,more like the one they ran from,,,.These times will be recorded in history,,,,our time ,,and what we did,,or did NOT DO,, will determine the fate of us,but more important,,,our grand children,,,,Torture by any government is a inherent signal,sign,the the government in which we have has turned,,,,has turned to corruption,tyranny, as the way to control its population,,,If we don’t stop them some how,,,,more will die,,,more will forcibly suiffer in agony ,,till there death,,,,,,,,,maryw
Former “inmates” can vote as long as They are not “incarcerated” at the time of voting. Meaning out of jail or prison – time served, off probation or parole, out of halfway houses, off GPS home monitoring systems, etc. Voting rights are reinstated when time is served.
What happened too America? What happened to innocent until PROVEN guilty? So now these states have lost the war on marijuana, now they come after “legal” chronic pain patients? Yea, someone, somewhere down the line is getting their palms greased with the money that former marijuana smokers would have been forced to pay just 1 year or more ago (i.e. fines, probation, jail time), ‘cuz you know we gotta keep that prison system humming along…this makes me ill, mad, worried about “my” future…heck, they even implanted a morphine pump in my abdomen. So now, because of these ill thought out statutes, I am now going to be branded a criminal? Even though I can “prove” medical necessity, it seems that even this is going to get me NOWHERE…the time to speak out is NOW!! After seeing the state of the union address, Trump is going too buy into anything he sees fit to further “their” agenda (anybody believe that Trump’s 1st year in office is the worst among all 1st year president’s?) …and it doesn’t look pretty for us chronic pain patients, if the aforementioned statement is indeed true. I don’t even know where to begin, if I write my congressman or representative, all I am going to get back, (if anything at all) is a form letter…so I am really at loss as how to even voice my concerns/opinion!! Any suggestions?? God bless us chronic pain sufferers…we are going too need his presence for the long battle ahead!