Bill Text: CA AB2230 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Amended

California Assembly Bill 2230 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Tobacco assessment.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-03-16 - In committee: Hearing postponed by committee. [AB2230 Detail]

Download: California-2019-AB2230-Amended.html

Amended IN Assembly March 10, 2020

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 2230

Introduced by Assembly Member Berman

February 13, 2020

An act to add Section 11756.5 to the Health and Safety Code, relating to substance abuse disorder treatment.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 2230, as amended, Berman. Tobacco assessment.

Existing law requires the State Department of Health Care Services to license and regulate facilities that provide residential nonmedical services to adults who are recovering from problems related to alcohol, drug, or alcohol and drug misuse or abuse, and who need alcohol, drug, or alcohol and drug recovery treatment or detoxification services. Existing law also requires the department to implement a voluntary certification procedure for alcohol and other drug treatment recovery services.

This bill would require a licensed facility and a certified program to assess a client or patient for tobacco use at the time of the initial intake and take certain actions if the client or patient is diagnosed with tobacco use disorder. The bill would also require the department to collect nonpersonally identifying information from licensed facilities and certified programs on current and past patterns of tobacco use by their patients and clients.
This bill would require a licensed facility or a certified program to assess a patient or client for tobacco use at the time of the initial intake, take certain actions if the patient or client has tobacco use disorder, and report the results of these assessments to the department, as specified. The bill would require the department to develop appropriate mechanisms for the collection and reporting of data collected by these facilities and programs.

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a person with a mental health issue, substance use disorder, or both are more than twice as likely to smoke cigarettes as a person without these behavioral health conditions and are more likely to die from a smoking-related illness than from their behavioral health conditions.
(b) The CDC has also found that smoking cessation reduces smoking-related disease risk and could improve mental health and substance use disorder recovery outcomes. Research shows that patients who are concomitantly treated for tobacco use disorder while receiving addiction treatment have a 25 percent increase in the likelihood of substance use abstinence one year after treatment compared to those not treated for tobacco use disorder.
(c) The CDC concludes that given that tobacco cessation in behavioral health treatment could improve both physical and behavioral health outcomes, and continued smoking worsens those outcomes, behavioral health treatment facilities are an important setting for evidence-based tobacco cessation interventions.
(d) The CDC notes that nicotine and opioid addictions are mutually reinforcing, whereas smoking cessation is associated with long-term abstinence after opioid treatment.
(e) The California Tobacco Control Program currently identifies persons with substance use disorders as a priority population.
(f) California ranks 41st in the United States on asking about tobacco in substance use disorder treatment and 32nd on providing tobacco use disorder treatment counseling in substance use disorder treatment.
(g) According to the CDC, in 2016, tobacco screening was the most commonly implemented tobacco-related practice in mental health and substance use treatment facilities.
(h) California must reduce barriers to tobacco use disorder treatment in order to eliminate tobacco-related health disparities among persons with substance use disorders.

SEC. 2.

Section 11756.5 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:

11756.5.
(a) An alcoholism or substance use disorder recovery or treatment facility licensed under this division or an alcohol or other drug program certified by the department in accordance with the alcohol or other drug certification standards established pursuant to Section 11830.1 shall assess each patient or client for tobacco use at the time of the initial intake.
(b) For a patient or client with tobacco use disorder, a licensed facility or certified program, as described in subdivision (a), shall do all of the following:
(1) Provide information to the patient or client on how continued tobacco use could affect their long-term success in recovery from substance use disorder.
(2) Recommend treatment for tobacco use disorder in the treatment plan.
(3) Offer either treatment or a referral for treatment for tobacco use disorder.
(c) (1) A licensed facility or certified program, as described in subdivision (a), shall report the data collected from subdivision (a) on current and past patterns of tobacco use by patients and clients to the department in a manner consistent with other data collection requirements.
(2) The department shall develop appropriate mechanisms for the collection and reporting of data pursuant to this section.

SECTION 1.Section 11756.5 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:
11756.5.
(a)An alcoholism or drug abuse recovery or treatment facility licensed under this division or an alcohol or other drug program certified by the department in accordance with the alcohol or other drug certification standards established pursuant to Section 11830.1 shall do all of the following for each client or patient:
~~(1)Assess for tobacco use at the time of the initial intake.~~
~~(2)Identify tobacco use disorder in the treatment plan, if present.~~
~~(3)Provide a patient or client diagnosed with tobacco use disorder either treatment or a referral for treatment for tobacco use disorder, as appropriate.~~
(b)The department shall collect nonpersonally identifying information from licensed facilities and certified programs, as described in subdivision (a), on current and past patterns of tobacco use by their patients and clients.