I have recently read the draft for S.58. I am very concerned that this legislation will negatively impact those with substance use disorder and mental health challenges. I am a board-certified Addiction Medicine physician. I treat people every day in recovery from substance use. Many of my patients have in the past used substances and sometimes gave substances to others. So many faced with substance use, deal to support their own use. I have seen the devastation a person feels if someone has overdosed on a substance that was given to them. There is enough shame already, that shame and feelings of responsibility hamper efforts to maintain recovery. We don’t need to bring this to a legal punishment. We know our jails are overwhelmed and offer little to no treatment for substance use.
I understand, as well, as a parent of a child who died from overdose, the knee jerk reaction to wanting someone to be held responsible for your child’s death. This feeling is often present in parents in the early stages of grief. It is a reaction to the loss and a desire for accountability. I know that the person who gave my son a fatal amount of fentanyl, likely suffers significant remorse. With fentanyl (as it is routinely mixed in a Magic Bullet) the concentrations in any given amount are widely disparate.
I hate to think of the repercussions of this bill if it becomes law.
My son, Sean experienced the side of a possession law, for LSD. Surprisingly, in Vermont possession of LSD is a felony. This charge was reduced but, our son still spent time in the correctional facility along with other misdemeanor charges. He was taken off his psychiatric medications for bipolar depression and left jail in a manic state. He died about a month later.
Jail is not a therapeutic environment.
Please consider that however well-meaning the authors of this legislation, those of us with firsthand knowledge of the system, know this will only make matters worse.
Please reach out if you need further information.
Sincerely, Kimberly D. Blake MD
for-kindness 