by
<a href="mailto:sharons@awcnet.org">Sharon Swanson</a>, <a href="mailto:brandona@awcnet.org">Brandon Anderson</a> | Apr 22, 2019
<a href="https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=5380&Year=2019&Initiative=false" target="_blank"><strong>SSB 5380</strong></a>, concerning opioid use treatment, passed the House after being amended on the floor.
SSB 5380, concerning opioid use treatment, passed the House after being amended on the floor.
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 includes language that requires (subject to appropriated funds or approval of a Section 1115 demonstration waiver) 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 appropriate. City and county jails must also make reasonable efforts to directly connect incarcerated individuals receiving medication for the treatment of OUD to an appropriate provider or treatment site.
The Senate did not concur with the changes made in the House. A committee of legislators from the House and Senate will meet to try to find a compromise on the amendments before the amended bill can be enacted. AWC continues to support the bill as amended.