Footprints’ Staci Allan Helps Remove Barriers to Mental Health Treatment
Staci Allan, business development officer at Footprints to Recovery, joined forces with Lake Behavioral Hospital to remove barriers to mental health treatment in Lake County and Southeast Wisconsin. Allan, who has worked in the behavioral health field for over a decade and is a long-time advocate for access to life-saving substance abuse and mental health treatment, was asked to participate in an important legislative hearing on March 23, 2020. The hearing sought to change the section of Wisconsin’s Chapter 51 law, which prevents people experiencing an acute psychiatric episode to be transported to an Illinois psychiatric provider, even if that provider is closer. There is precedent, as this cooperative legislation is already in reciprocal laws with Michigan, Iowa, and Minnesota; all of them able to accept Chapter 51 patients from Wisconsin. Allan was asked to join the hearing to advocate for the legislation change. Others in attendance included Illinois Senator Adrienne Johnson; Lake Behavioral Hospital CEO Cindy DeMarco, LCSW; Lake Behavioral Hospital Director of Business Development Charla Waxman, MBA, EdD; and several Wisconsin and Illinois community constituents such as aldermen and mayors. Dr. Waxman, who spearheaded the hearing said, “When they told me to call three people on the other side of the border, Staci was my first call. She has been a great partner at Lake. [She] would not be the only person I could have called, but we have a longstanding relationship in the community, she knows what she is talking about, and she is fair. I knew we would get what we needed.” Allan is well known for her outreach work in the behavioral health field as well as her role with the Illinois School District 21 Board of Education and her campaign work in local elections. “My role and reputation is to discuss access and barriers to treatment and how to remove them legislatively,” said Allan. “Lake Behavioral Hospital is right on the Wisconsin border. If someone is in a psychosis event, sometimes the hospital over the state line might actually be closer than in Illinois. It’s not unusual for someone in Illinois to get caught up in a system they don’t understand.” The need for legislative change became apparent to Lake Behavioral Hospital when they began hearing from concerned fire chiefs in northern Illinois border towns and emergency room professionals in Kenosha and Pleasant Prairie that because of the Wisconsin Chapter 51 mental health commitment law, they couldn’t send Illinois residents back across the border to their home state for inpatient psychiatric treatment, even though Lake Behavioral Hospital is only a 15-to-20-minute ride. Current Wisconsin laws prevent acute psychiatric transport from crossing state lines. Officers and ER employees are often forced to transport Illinois patients as much as one to three hours north in Wisconsin to secure treatment. Many ER workers in Southeast Wisconsin and mental health professionals were also frustrated with the legal barriers that prevented them from sending Wisconsin residents to specialty treatment centers in Illinois, even when they were closer than Wisconsin facilities. For example, patients from the Kenosha and Racine areas would be cared for much closer to their own community when receiving care in Waukegan, Illinois. Lake Behavioral Hospital decided to take the lead in pursuing legislation that would be a collaborative arrangement between Wisconsin and Illinois, allowing facilities in Illinois to accept and treat patients from Wisconsin who are subject to Chapter 51 of the Wisconsin mental health code. Patients could then receive treatment near their own community. The revision would also correct the treatment accessibility issue, regardless of border or state, for Wisconsin residents who would like to choose treatment closer to home even though it may be in Illinois. This new bill would give them access to many treatment providers in northern Illinois counties, not just Lake Behavioral Hospital. “We’re all doing the same job. We’re all in it for the same reason. If we’re a bunch of islands or the relationships are acrimonious at all, nobody benefits,” said Dr. Waxman. “It’s just a different law in Wisconsin, and we want [people] to be able to make their choice. We can provide multiple layers of treatment, but we couldn’t serve that Kenosha involuntary patient without that change.” The legislation change is expected to be approved after a second hearing in which some wording changes will be implemented. “We know many people come in with complicated issues even if they’re involuntary, many times by a substance abuse event,” said Allan. “These efforts solidify the relations we have with not just Lake, but with their entire system. We want to be a good partner in Lake County. We were there as advocates and that was the part that was very appreciated.”
IL Marijuana Laws in 2020: What You Need to Know
More than 250 new laws go into effect in Illinois with the new year. Some of the most talked about are the laws concerning recreational use of marijuana. The passage of HB 1438 means that as of January 1, it will be legal to purchase and use marijuana in the state of Illinois for adults over the age of 21. This makes Illinois the 11th state to officially legalize recreational marijuana use. It’s important to note that use of marijuana in public places is still prohibited for all people. That means no smoking in bars, restaurants, public parks, or any other public place, whether use of the drug is medicinal or recreational. Medical Use of Marijuana vs. Recreational Use There are a few differences between how recreational users of the drug are allowed to interact with marijuana compared to registered medicinal marijuana users. First, only medical marijuana patients are legally allowed to grow marijuana plants in their home. The 65,000+ people currently registered as medical marijuana patients in the state are allowed to grow up to five plants per household, regardless of how many registered marijuana using patients live in the home. Recreational users are not allowed to grow any amount of the drug for any reason, an issue that was highly contested during the legalization process. Because it was a hang-up for lawmakers, however, the choice was to keep at-home marijuana grow rooms illegal unless the owner was a registered medical marijuana user. Second, medical marijuana users may now be able to use marijuana at school. A Medical Cannabis Pilot Program will provide for dispensation of the drug to students who are registered medical marijuana users by school nurses or administrators. Though this was a task that only parents could perform in the past, SB 455 also allows for a student to self-administer their own marijuana or other medications at school as long as they are supervised by a school nurse or administrator. Senator Cristina Castro was the chief sponsor of the bill. In a statement, she said: “Ideally, the parents of these students would provide the medications, but it’s often the case that the parents are unable to make it to the school due to other commitments. By giving school nurses the ability to administer these important medications, we can ensure that students across Illinois are getting the proper treatment they require.” Supply and Demand for Marijuana in Illinois The 55 marijuana dispensaries across Illinois were already struggling to keep up with the demand for marijuana created by the 65,000+ registered medical marijuana users in the state. Some dispensaries report selling out within minutes of making product available on the shelves and struggling to maintain enough grow rooms to produce the plants necessary to keep current customers happy, given the slow grow cycle of the plant. The problem began when the rules for application for medical marijuana patient status loosened in 2018. As it became easier to register as a medical marijuana user in Illinois, the demand for the drug grew to the point that dispensaries were struggling to keep up. Compounding the problem is the fact that, of the 55 dispensaries, many are currently serving only medicinal marijuana users. This is not scheduled to change despite the influx of recreational users. Even if a dispensary officially serves recreational users, medical marijuana patients have first dibs on diminishing product. This means that as supplies dwindle, recreational marijuana users will still be unable to legally purchase the drug at a dispensary. Though medical marijuana users are allowed to grow as many as five plants to help them manage the potential issue of sold-out product in the dispensaries, plants have a grow cycle of three to four months and often do not produce very much, especially if the grower is unfamiliar with how to care for the plant. This means that many rely on the dispensaries for their marijuana, leaving less for recreational users. It also means a hole in the market that will likely be filled with black market marijuana sales. Looking for Treatment in Illinois? Black Market Marijuana Sales The primary problem with black market sales of marijuana is the same issue that plagues all substances sold on the black market: lack of quality control. With no industry standards governing how the product is grown, transported, or sold, consumers don’t truly know what they are buying. Though some may question how much a drug like marijuana, primarily sold in plant form, can be tampered with, the fact is that the quality of marijuana sold on the black market is generally considered to be subpar compared to the marijuana plants sold in a dispensary. Not only are pesticides and other chemicals more likely to be used in the growth of black market marijuana plants, there is no forum for complaint if the product is underweight, lacks potency, or otherwise fails to provide the effect that consumers are looking for. While many support the idea of legalization of marijuana because they believe it will eliminate the street drug market and therefore lower crime, the fact is that black market sales of marijuana flourish in states where the drug is legal. This is often because the legal supply can’t keep up and taxes force a high price point on the product. This means that legalizing marijuana recreationally leads to higher rates of use of the drug as well as increased rates of criminal activity involving the sales of marijuana. This in turn increases the burden on police and the court systems despite the fact that users of the drug are less likely to be charged for marijuana-associated choices. Do Increased Rates of Marijuana Use Mean Increased Rates of Marijuana Addiction? One of the arguments against the legalization of recreational marijuana is the notion that easier access to the drug will result in higher rates of marijuana use among adults and teens. This hasn’t exactly been the case. In
