by
<a href="mailto:sharons@awcnet.org">Sharon Swanson</a>, <a href="mailto:brandona@awcnet.org">Brandon Anderson</a> | Apr 12, 2019
<a target="_blank" href="https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=5380&Year=2019&Initiative=false"><strong>SSB 5380</strong></a>, concerning opioid use treatment, has advanced out of committee and is now waiting for a vote of the full House.
SSB 5380, concerning opioid use treatment, has advanced out of committee and is now waiting for a vote of the full House.
SSB 5380 modifies the protocols for using medications to treat opioid use disorder (OUD) and requires therapeutic courts that receive funding from the state’s criminal justice treatment account and city and county jails to provide medication-assisted treatment (MAT).
The bill as amended now includes language that (subject to appropriated funds or approval of a Section 1115 demonstration waiver) requires city and county jails to provide opioid treatment medications to persons in custody who have a prescription for an OUD medication or at least 30 days before release when treatment is determined to be medically appropriated. City and county jails must make reasonable efforts to directly connect incarcerated individuals receiving medication for the treatment of OUD to an appropriate provider or treatment site.
AWC supports the bill as amended.