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History
- Referred to alcoholism and drug abuse
Full text
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Sponsor's memo
BILL NUMBER:S7014
Title of bill
An act to amend the mental hygiene law, in relation to requests for emergency services for persons intoxicated, impaired or incapacitated by alcohol or substances
Purpose of Bill:
This legislation would authorize certain persons to make application to a local governmental unit's director of community services for the emergency admission and assessment of a person intoxicated, impaired or incapacitated as a result of alcohol or substance abuse, and to set the maximum stabilization period at 72 hours.
Summary of Provisions:
Section 1 would amend Mental Hygiene Law § 22.09, relating to emergency services for persons intoxicated, impaired or incapacitated by alcohol and/or substances, to provide a means for certain persons (e.g. doctor, spouse, parent, guardian) who can document their concerns about a person's safety or the safety of those around him/her because of such person's impairment due to abuse of alcohol or substances, to apply to the local director of community services to transport such impaired person to an approved treatment facility for assessment and stabilization. The bill extends the maximum time to reach stabilization from 48 hours to 72 hours.
Section 2 provides for an effective date 180 days after the bill becomes law.
Existing Law:
Mental Hygiene Law § 22.09 permits law enforcement, peace officers and directors of community services or their designees to transport persons who appear to be a danger to themselves or others to a hospital approved by the commissioner for observation, care aid treatment no longer than 48 hours.
Legislative History:
This is a new bill.
Statement in Support:
OASAS admissions data, news reports, and reports from law enforcement personnel statewide reflect a dramatic increase in the availability and abuse of prescription drugs illegal opiates and synthetic drugs, across age ranges, but most dramatically among young people. Patient advocacy groups and emergency personnel have been struggling with identifying means to bring into treatment those persons who are so impaired by powerful substances that they do not recognize the danger they pose to themselves or others.
Under New York's emergency services statute for intoxicated, impaired or incapacitated persons, law enforcement personnel generally make an on-the-spot clinical decision (often on the street) about a person's mental and physical condition before the person can be transported to
a hospital. Once in the hospital, the person may be detained for no more than 48 hours, time period which is not clinically sufficient to withdraw and stabilize from the more potent substances, or mixtures of substances, being abused.
This bill would permit certain concerned persons to file a request with the local director of community services to transport a named person to an OASAS certified facility (hospital or other program) for assessment and a maximum stabilization period of 72 hours. The person, if transported, assessed and stabilized, may choose whether to receive treatment. The director of community services would be required to review and approve an application based on specified criteria before directing transport of the named person to a facility.
Budget Implications:
This bill would have a negligible fiscal impact.
Effective Date:
This bill takes effect in 180 days.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.