Tomorrow morning, the Washington State Senate will vote on HB 1713, also known as Ricky’s Law. If passed, this law “will allow involuntary commitment to chemical dependency treatment if a person is at risk of serious harm to themselves, to others, or is gravely disabled by an addiction to drugs or alcohol.” This is currently only allowed for psychiatric treatment in Washington, but does not include chemical dependency.
Please call the legislative hotline today. You may also copy and paste the language in bold below and pass this along to your networks.
For more information, please click on the article on the bottom of this page.
Thank-you,
Dear Friends of Daybreak Youth Services,
The Washington State Senate will take action Friday morning on a piece of legislation that will make it easier for parents and families of drug and alcohol addicted adolescents to get their child into treatment. HB 1713, also known as Ricky’s Law, would allow involuntary treatment for up to 72 hours which is enough time, in many cases, to get a child evaluated and resources organized for their care. Similar laws exist in other states.
Would you please, right now, call the Washington State Legislative Hotline at 800.562-6000 and leave a message for the Senate Human Services, Mental Health & Housing Committee and Senators Oban, Miloscia, Darneille, Hargrove and Padden.
Identify yourself and share the following key points.
- I strongly support HB 1713
- This bill will make it easier to get adolescents with drug and alcohol addiction issues into treatment.
- A growing abundance of cheap heroine, easier access to marijuana and alcohol have merged to create a serious rise in drug and alcohol addiction among teens in our state.
- Thank you for supporting this bill. Please have your staff call me if you have any additional questions.
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Thank you for supporting Daybreak and the many, many families and children we serve.
For more about Ricky’s Law, click on the link below.
I TOTALLY support this proposed law. My grandson would have greatly benefited from such a law when he was still an adolescent. However, now that he is 21, the paradigm has shifted.