Used Narcan nasal spray kits are scattered near where they were administered to someone showing signs of a drug overdose in San Francisco. SB43 would define drug use disorder as a grave disability under the state’s conservatorship law.
Benjamin Fanjoy/Special to The ChronicleAs public mental health professionals and advocates for people with behavioral health disorders in the Bay Area, we support SB43, which will redefine what constitutes a grave disability under California’s conservatorship law, Lanterman Petris Short Act of 1972, which currently fails to recognize substance use disorders other than alcoholism.
We fully agree with The Chronicle's editorial; a comprehensive approach is needed to address the problems we face in caring for the most severely ill individuals, but a current lack of resources should not prevent reforms with the potential to save lives.
SB43 eliminates arbitrary distinctions between mental health conditions and debilitating substance abuse disorders, which do not serve our patients.
Current law defines “gravely disabled” as the inability to provide for one’s basic needs due to a mental health condition or chronic alcoholism. SB43 would include serious substance abuse disorders, including methamphetamine or fentanyl addiction; an incremental step to help those most affected — and often homeless — from revolving through emergency rooms and jails and dying prematurely.
While concerns for civil liberties are justified, SB43 would have individuals who qualify brought into a civil — not criminal — process under existing law with multiple protections for individual rights.
We agree that there is an urgent need to invest in our behavioral health infrastructure and workforce, but we must also bring our laws up to date so that when those investments are made, California’s health care providers can treat individuals suffering from the full range of behavioral health conditions.
Dr.
Fumi Mitsuishi, associate clinical professor, UCSF Department of
Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences; director, San Francisco General
Hospital Division of Citywide Case Management
Dr. Lisa Fortuna,
professor and executive vice chair, UCSF Department of Psychiatry and
Behavioral Sciences; chief of service, psychiatry, San Francisco General
Hospital
Dr. Matt State, professor and chair, UCSF Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
No comments:
Post a Comment