E-grāmata: Addiction and the Law

The risk factors and consequences of substance use disorders (SUDs) have become even more prominent with the opioid crisis in the United States. Given our greater awareness of the links between SUDs and other mental illnesses, psychiatry and medicine have been developing new, less moralistic approaches to treat SUDs. Meanwhile, patients continue to run up against a legal system that can be morally inflexible. Clinicians must promote the best treatment for their patients while also being aware of consequences in the legal realm.

That's what makes Addiction and the Law such a necessary resource. This new book examines the many intersections between SUDs and the law—arrest, incarceration, and employment among them—helping readers navigate the overlap between the medical management of addictive disorders and the current legal framework.

In four exhaustive sections, the book covers crucial issues in treating SUD patients:

• The philosophy behind how the legal system has traditionally approached SUDs, and how it has informed recent trends in decriminalization, the legal regulation of substance use, and the treatment of SUDs.• Civil issues that include the interplay of SUDs and the Americans with Disabilities Act; the basis of drug and alcohol testing; child custody and welfare issues; personal injury cases; and professional malpractice.• The legal standards used in SUD-related criminal case evaluations; interventions such as pre-arrest diversion, drug courts, and reentry services; and the treatment of SUDs in jails and prisons.• Special topics, including cannabis legalization, changes to the regulation of buprenorphine during COVID-19, and the legal regulation of therapeutic hallucinogenic substances.

This guide features key points at the end of each chapter and tables throughout that help readers quickly access its evidence-based information. Readers will achieve a better understanding of the legal and regulatory issues that may affect their practice and be better positioned to more effectively assist their patients.

"There are innumerable interface issues between those with substance use disorders SUDs and the law. Individuals with SUDs may be facing legal issues-whether through arrest, incarceration, driving-under-the-influence offenses, child custody disputes, employment issues, or court-ordered drug testing. Administrative, regulatory, and legal systems often play a critical role in how substance problems are addressed, and the result is often quite difficult, given the awkward fit between current scientific and medical views and the black-and-white provisions of often-outdated laws. Only by understanding the basics of both SUDs and governing laws can the practitioner navigate both systems in a manner that is both evidence informed and relevant to the matter at hand. This book gives an overview of the many areas in which SUDs and the law overlap. It also provides a guide to 1. the specific ways in which SUDs are treated in the U.S. legal system; 2. important SUD-related factors for judges, juries, human resources professionals, employment administrators, and others to consider; and 3, the ways in which health care providers, forensic practitioners, and legal professionals can render opinions and even advise their patients and clients, respectively. Chapters include information about legal regulation, legal structures for treatment, employment law, testing, pregnancy and children, incarceration, and other special topics. This book will appeal to all mental health clinicians, including treating clinicians and forensic psychiatrists as well as other forensic mental health professionals, legal professionals, and advocates who encounter cases in which the medical management of addictive disorders intersects with the law"--