Feds roll back ‘confusing’ addiction funding rules that had deadly consequence in Pa.
Ed Mahon of Spotlight PA
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HARRISBURG A federal agency that sends billions of dollars to states to help them respond to the opioid crisis is rolling back part of a policy that caused widespread confusion in Pennsylvania, wrongly preventing at least one person who later died of an overdose from accessing addiction treatment.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has eliminated language that prohibited grant recipients from providing federal funding “to any individual who or organization that provides or permits marijuana use for the purposes of treating substance use or mental disorders.”
Pa. can’t fine addiction treatment facilities that break rules, but some lawmakers want to change that
Updated 7:23 AM;
Today 5:00 AM
Rep. Mark Gillen (R., Berks) wants to give the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs the power to fine licensed addiction treatment facilities for violating state rules.
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By Ed Mahon of Spotlight PA
HARRISBURG On his drive to and from the state Capitol, state Rep. Mark Gillen often sees a state trooper’s vehicle.
“They usually don’t yell out the window to slow down,” said Gillen, a Berks County Republican. “If you’re going too fast, you’re going to get stopped, and you’re going to get fined, and it changes behavior.”
By Aneri Pattani of KHN & Ed Mahon of Spotlight PA
Ian Kalinowski’s brother, Adam, died by suicide in 2014 while he was a client at a treatment center run by Addiction Specialists Inc.
Credit: Kristina Serafini/TribLIVE for Spotlight PA
When Ian Kalinowski was at work, his mom usually texted him. So when he saw her number show up as an incoming call around lunchtime one Tuesday, he figured it had to be important.
Now, more than seven years later, he remembers her screams, the shock, and the questions she asked over and over again.
“Why are they saying this to me? Why are they lying to me?” Ian recalled his mom asking. “They’re telling me Adam’s dead. Why would they do this to me?”
Wastewater D-
Attracting business and industry to Pennsylvania would be better served if they did not worry about what you can drink, where you drive, dispose of your waste and how your product is getting to market.
Because of the pandemic, over 366,000 Pennsylvanians have enrolled in Medicaid. Spotlight PA reporters Ese Olumhense and Ed Mahon noted that such numbers are unmatched since the Great Recession. Also, our unemployment system is under immense pressure, with thousands of Pennsylvanians nearing the end of their benefits.
We need jobs.
The Democrats are well aware of what is at stake. The other party has already started its campaign of obstruction.
Department officials said earlier this month they were completing an internal review of draft regulations and planned to send them to the attorney general’s office by the end of January, but couldn’t commit to a timeline for when licensing and oversight will begin.
“I’m saddened by that because the longer it takes to set that up, the more individuals could pass away in these unstructured recovery homes,” said Amber Longhitano, a former council member in Bristol Township, Bucks County, who pushed state lawmakers to create oversight for recovery homes.
Beyond the delay, there’s a more fundamental problem with the oversight effort: It’s voluntary, though there are incentives.