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10/21/2005
News Feature
by Bob Curley
Reducing
discrimination against people with addictions and those in recovery
would not only reduce barriers to treatment but also would save society
millions, perhaps billions, of dollars, advocates told members of
Congress this week.
A panel of the American Bar Association's (ABA) Standing Committee on Substance Abuse appeared at a Capitol Hill briefing called by the Congressional Addiction, Treatment and Recovery Caucus
and detailed for lawmakers a series of recommendations for reducing
stigma against people with alcohol or other drug addictions.
"The
concern was not only to the overwhelmingly negative effect such
policies have had on those wanting to make their lives better, but on
the millions of dollars the failure to allow appropriate treatment is
costing the American public," said attorney and ABA substance-abuse
committee chair Barbara Howard.
"One of the hardest steps for
any addict or alcoholic to take is to ask for help," said Rep. Jim
Ramstad (R-Minn.), who co-chairs the bipartisan caucus with Rep.
Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.), as he opened the hearing. "... All too often,
doors are slammed in their face, or basic public services are denied.
It's time to end the discrimination against people who need treatment
for chemical addiction." Ramstad called on Congress and the Bush
administration to pass parity legislation for addiction treatment and
improve access to care.
The recommendations sprung from a Join
Together panel convened in 2002, with assistance by the ABA Standing
Committee on Substance Abuse, to examine public policies that
intentionally or unintentionally discriminate against people with
addictions. The panel looked at issues like access to health care,
employment, and public benefits, as well as policies that present a
barrier to treatment. In 2003, the panel issued its recommendations in
a publication titled, "Ending Discrimination Against People with Alcohol and Drug Problems."
The
ABA has adopted a pair of policies arising from the recommendations,
including a position against addiction discrimination and a call to
revise state insurance laws -- known as UPPL provisions -- that
effectively bar emergency-room physicians from screening patients for
alcohol abuse and referring them to treatment.
Also speaking at
the briefing were attorney and addiction counselor Michael J. Sweeney,
assistant director of the Oregon Attorney Assistance Program and
cofounder of the Oregon Partnership, and Eric Sterling, president of the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation.
Sweeney
detailed the argument for repealing the UPPL laws, saying that
resulting emergency-room screening and brief interventions could save
the federal Medicare program $1.1 billion annually and save Medicaid
$500 million per year.
Sterling focused on ABA recommendations
that people with drug convictions but no evidence of current drug use
should not be barred from obtaining student loans, grants,
scholarships, or government training programs; that people with
nonviolent drug convictions but no current drug use not be banned from
receiving cash assistance or food stamps from the government; and that
public-housing agencies help people with addictions obtain treatment
rather than banning them from subsidized housing, as long as they pose
no threat to others.
Sterling noted that 178,000 youths were
denied education benefits last year because of drug convictions, and
that two million juveniles have been arrested for drug offenses in the
past decade. "It's a mistake to have a policy that blocks them from
getting an education that would allow them to have a more productive
life," he told Join Together.
About a dozen Congressional staffers attended the hearing.
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