| OCR Text |
Show Seek Dtfl. Opposition To Bill On Alcoholics By ROSELYN KIRK Two bills introduced in the Utah Legislature, which would establish a treatment system for alcoholics, became a local issue when Bountiful citizens Melic Fadel and Gordon Gor-don Weed asked the Bountiful City Council to prepare a resolution in opposition to the bill. JIM KELLY, Davis County Alcohol and Drug Coordinator, Coordina-tor, told the "Davis County Clipper" that he favors the bill which would reclassify public intoxication as a noncriminal non-criminal offense. Both the Alcoholism and Intoxification Treatment Act and the funding bill have survived sur-vived the second reading in committee and are scheduled for a third reading on the floor of the Utah House of Representatives. Money for enforcing the bill would be provided by a beer excise tax if both bills pass. BOUNTIFUL City Council did not take actien on the resolution but called for input from Dave Irvine Davis County Legislator from District Dis-trict 56, one of the sponsor of the bill. Bountiful Mayor Morris Swapp told the council, coun-cil, he "absolutely opposes the bill." The bill calls for the approval of private and public facilities for the treatment of alcoholics. It would reclassify public intoxication as a noncriminal non-criminal offense unless persons per-sons who are intoxicated engage en-gage in criminal conduct. MR. KELLY says he favors the bill, which would decriminalize the alcoholic, but not the crime. "Alcoholism "Al-coholism is an illness. It is not a crime. People advocate punishing the alcoholic, but you can't punish him into sobriety." He says the bill can't be implemented unless a companion bill, which calls for an excise tax on beer is also implemented. Both proponents and critics of the bill agree that the centers cannot be established until the funding bill passes both the Senate and the House. MR. FADEL said the proposal will not work without a law enforcement arm. The act calls for treatment, rather than the incarceration of alcoholics. The treatment would provide a screening process for those voluntarily ; or involuntarily entering treatment. A central receiving receiv-ing clinic would channel persons per-sons picked up for intoxication intoxica-tion into a center where they would be held up to 24 hours for screening. After screening, four other inpatient services would be available to clients-social detoxification, de-toxification, emergency care, in-patient care and residential residen-tial care. The social detoxification unit would provide 24 hour supervised care in a nonmedical setting. Emergency Emer-gency care would offer 24-hour 24-hour medical care and supervision super-vision until the alcoholic is no longer incapacitated by the effects of alcohol. IN-PATIENT care would call for supervised care, under the direction of a physician, in a hospital or another equipped medical setting. Residential support areas where the alcohol user would receive full or partial residential services, would provide counseling and vocational voca-tional rehabilitation services. The object of the out-patient care service would be td provide treatment services on a scheduled and non-scheduled non-scheduled basis while the patient pa-tient continues to live at home. BOUNTIFUL Police Chief Dean Anderson says he does not favor the bill since "there is no significant enforcement. Those sent to the center would be belligerent and would not come to the treatment center unless forced." Mr. Kelly said he feels the opposition to the bill is based on misinformation. "Also the jails will lose money," he explained. He says he is "op-tomistic "op-tomistic that the bill will pass. The ultimate result will be to keep the alcohol user out of jail and save the taxpayers money." REP. IRVINE said, "There is no intention in the bill to over-ride local government officials or local law enforcement en-forcement officers." He said 27 states have accepted a similar program and surveys show that law enforcement officers favor the plan. He said the intent of the bill is to have the alcohol user picked up by the police officer, of-ficer, who will take him to a receiving facility rather than at a jail. The long-range plan is to provide the treatment on a voluntary basis. THE TWO features of the bill are to provide a detoxification de-toxification area not in a jail and to take the public health approach to alcoholism, Rep. Irvine said. If the funding measure passes, 1.8 million dollars will be available to fund the program and the local centers. Rep. Irvine said no city will be forced to allow a center in their community if that center is not desired. |
