Opioid commission calls for expanding drug courts into every federal jurisdiction
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President Donald Trump’s opioid commission would like to see drug courts in every federal jurisdiction.
The proposal is among 56 recommendations by the President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis, report the Washington Post, the Associated Press, Modern Healthcare and Statnews, which published a copy of the document. The commission issued a report on Wednesday and is set to vote to approve it on Thursday.
Drug courts should be established in all 93 federal jurisdictions, while state and local governments should apply for drug-court block grants, the report says. Individuals with substance abuse disorders who violate probation should be diverted into drug court, rather than prison, according to the recommendations.
As of June 2015, 27 federal district courts operated as drug courts and six as veterans courts. Such drug courts use “a blend of treatment and sanction alternatives to address behavior, rehabilitation and community reintegration” for nonviolent offenders with substance abuse disorders, the report says.
Generally drug courts make available treatment with methadone, buprenorphine or naltrexone to defendants participating in diversion programs or in re-entry programs after incarceration. People treated with one of those drugs are more likely to stay in treatment, have fewer positive tests for illicit drugs, and are less likely to reoffend, according to the report.
The commission also called for simplified block grants to cities and states to combat substance abuse, the creation of drug czars in each state to coordinate resources, required training for doctors, required checks of drug monitoring databases, and changes in insurance reimbursement to encourage alternatives to opioids.
Last week, Trump had followed an interim recommendation by the commission when he declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency. One step he took was to waive a federal policy that had blocked Medicaid payments to inpatient facilities with more than 16 beds.
Trump also suggested the federal government should sue bad-actor companies that allow painkillers to reach the black market.
