(The Center Square) – Washington state’s Substance Use Recovery Services Advisory Committee, or SURSAC, heard a presentation at Monday’s meeting that rattled some committee members.
SURSAC was established through legislation in 2021 to provide recommendations to lawmakers on substance use policy and treatment options.
Since then, the committee has been focused on promoting a harm reduction model, which aims to minimize the negative consequences associated with drug use, rather than focusing solely on abstinence. It operates on the principle that drug use is a complex issue and that people are best served by being offered non-judgmental services and resources that reduce harm.
Some newer SURSAC members, including several lawmakers, have pushed back on the harm reduction model. They argue that as the drug crisis worsens, the controversial “safe supply” recommendation is wrong, and that it’s worsening the Evergreen State’s drug addiction problem.
During Monday’s meeting, SURSAC Chair Tony Walton said some of the concerns raised by newer committee members about the direction of their work inspired an invitation to the director of Recovery Place Kent to share about that facility’s approach to helping addicts who are involuntarily committed.
“We are here because of the involuntary treatment act in Ricky’s Law,” said Director Teri Hardy. “The goal here is to save people’s lives.”
Hardy said the Kent facility, with 32 beds, has been in operation for five years now, and in the last year, it helped more than 100 patients, most of them with long-term substance use disorder.
She told committee members that 98% of their clients transition to less restrictive housing options and continue treatment once released.
“Look at the stigma involuntary commitment has,” Hardy said. “We want to change everything about it. We’re not just here to stabilize the crisis. We want to go so much further than that.”
Substance use disorder provider Susan Carlson pushed back on Hardy, suggesting that having someone forced into treatment against their will should be the very last option.
“I don’t think we should gloss over the fact that it does deny people their civil liberties. This is a treatment of last resort, so let’s bolster those treatments that lead up to having to do with voluntary treatment,” Carlson said. “I think it’s important that we’re straightforward about the fact this does strip people of their civil liberties.”
SURSAC member Malika Lamont also questioned the support for involuntary treatment options.
“It’s feeling like this is almost a promotion [saying] we should be doing this more,” she said.
“It’s not a promotion,” Hardy replied. “I simply wanted to share how we have viewed IT [involuntary treatment] for so long and how it’s important to view it differently.”
Hardy said she is also a member of the Overdose Fatality Review Committee in King County.
“I cannot tell you how many people have lost their lives, and ITA wasn’t even thought of, because of the stigma. I will forever be a tireless advocate and the loudest voice in the room on the fact that treatment work,” Hardy continued. “I have been contacted by several states that are enacting a form of Ricky’s Law. People are recognizing the work that we are doing, and I think it’s important.”
Rep. Mari Leavitt, D-Steilacoom, a member of the SURSAC committee, told The Center Square that she supports involuntary treatment options, among other approaches.
“There are so many things out there that are challenging our neighbors, and so we need to address the spectrum of options that we have available,” Leavitt said. “And the provider who presented to us is doing important work for those who are under involuntary treatment … having those providers and those options available across that continuum of care, I think, is critical, and you have to do both.”
Brian Burnett, R-Wenatchee, is a member of the SURSAC. He spoke with The Center Square after the Monday meeting, saying that anyone who dismisses the idea that some people will only recover through involuntary treatment isn’t grasping the reality of the crisis.
“I mean, you can drive downtown in South Wenatchee, and you see this amazingly grotesque center of homeless individuals that are driven mostly by drug addiction, and I don’t care what you call it, it’s drug addiction,” Burnett said. “These drugs are uber dangerous. Nobody wants to see forced ITA, but my goodness, what’s the alternative? To watch them die and to take other people down with them? As state representatives, we’re going to go out and find ways that make better policy so we can actually make our communities safer and freer of dangerous drugs and save lives.”
According to preliminary data released in June by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 3,137 Washingtonians died from a fatal overdose in 2024.
