CHS Research Project Manager Testifies on Addiction Bill.
Alicia Ventura, a research project manager in the Department of Community Health Sciences, testified on the Substance Use Treatment, Education, and Prevention (STEP) Act before the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse on November 16.
The bill was filed by Governor Charlie Baker to combat the opioid addiction epidemic, although it addresses substance addiction in general.
“The intent of the legislation is clear and there are some very excellent and commonsense pieces,” Ventura says. “Unfortunately, intent doesn’t always translate into effective policy.”
During the public hearing, Ventura, who works in addiction research, shared both professional and personal experiences regarding addiction. “I’ve had the opportunity to interact with many experts in the field who’ve taught me about best practices and what the evidence supports,” she says. “In my personal life, as both a family member and a friend, I have seen that disconnect” between best practices and policy “at a very high cost—a fatal cost.”
During her testimony, Ventura also expressed concerns about several aspects of the bill. Of particular concern, she says, is the expansion of civil commitment, allowing police and some medical professionals to restrain people with substance use disorders for 72 hours. Ventura is also worried people who are actively using drugs and alcohol have not had a voice in shaping the bill. There should be a place at the table, she says, for “the thousand-plus lives we will lose in the Commonwealth in the next year.
“What scares me about this policy is that the evidence is not what is speaking the loudest.”