Committee studies substance use disorders

Sharon Blair watched her daughter, Jennifer Reynolds, struggle with drug addiction for 13 years.

Reynolds went through five treatment facilities before she passed away in 2009.
“Once I saw Jennifer dead I knew this was God’s plan for me,” Blair said. “Anger fuels me to do this. I knew I was the one to be strong and make a change.”

Now, Blair is the head advocate for Senate Concurrent Resolution 7, commonly referred to as the Jennifer Act, which compelled the General Assembly’s Commission
on Mental Health and Addiction to study involuntary commitment of persons with substance use disorders.
 
The study began Aug. 27.

The Jennifer Act was created for the interference of someone using drugs and unable to recognize the need for treatment.
 
If the study results in legislation, the law would allow friends, family members and acquittances to petition the court for the permission to make decisions on behalf of the substance abusing person, Blair said.

Blair said the best treatment for a substance-abuse person is intervention.

“It depends on the person and how long they have been using to claim true recovery,” Blair said. “Though society wants a simple treatment plan, one does not exist. Relapse is part of recovery”

Blair received the “2012 Indiana Recovery Advocate of the Year” by Mental Health America of Indiana and Indiana Addictions Issues Coalition.

“I was honored to receive the award,” Blair said. “It meant a lot to me.”

Blair, who returned to Bloomington three years ago, said college students are at high risk for prescription drug addictions.

“Students who party may try something once,” Blair said. “Or it is using substance to cram for tests, de-stress or they might get hooked from medication taken due to an injury.”

According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, there is an epidemic of overdose deaths and prescriptionaddiction in the U.S. Since 1990, drug overdose rates have more than tripled in the U.S.

In 2008, 14,800 deaths were cause by painkiller overdoses.

Blair’s main goal is to revamp and tweak the pre-existing involuntary law set in Indiana.
The law states the regulations and procedures to make decisions about individuals who are impaired by substance-abuse.

“It is not a popular subject,” Blair said. “No one wants their freedom taken away, but when a person is impaired with drugs, they cannot make decisions for themselves, especially the right ones.”

In court, Blair said this is similar to making decisions for an elderly person
with an illness such as Alzheimer’s.
 
“What really gets me is how many people are unaware of the involuntary law in the first place,” Blair said. “That is why I am advocating for this. The resolution is addressing how to educate people and whether Indiana should be utilizing this law more.”

Blair is also strongly advocating for addicts to be placed in hospitals and treatment facilities as soon as possible.

Bloomington does not have a main center for drug detoxification, but Bloomington does provide help in the local hospitals.

There is the Recovery Engagement Center, at 221 N. Rogers St, which
is a facility dedicated to the prevention and recovery of mental illness and
addiction.

“An addict would have to go to Indianapolis for a detox unit,” Blair said.
Blair began petitioning for a bill three and a half years ago, finally getting a legal draft passed in 2010.

Without any progress since, Blair said she decided to reintroduce her plan with a concurrent resolution, which was successful this year.

Blair said she believes that many people do something not because they are afraid of what others might think or do.

She said she knew someone had to bring an end to the drug addiction epidemic, but never thought it would be her.

“Once I saw Jen dead, everything was gone,” she said. “Nothing could be more painful than seeing your child dead, so I knew whatever people said did not matter.”