Relates to establishing a public awareness and education campaign for substance addiction and an addiction awareness fund; treatment options; reducing the stigma of seeking help for substance addiction and making an appropriation therefor.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5831
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
May 2, 2017
___________
Introduced by Sen. SAVINO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Finance
AN ACT to amend the public health law and the state finance law, in
relation to establishing a public awareness and education campaign for
addiction; treatment options; reducing the stigma of seeking help for
addiction; and making an appropriation therefor
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The public health law is amended by adding a new section
2 3309-b to read as follows:
3 § 3309-b. Public awareness campaign for substance addiction. There is
4 hereby established within the department an addiction awareness program
5 to educate the public of addiction as a serious public health issue, and
6 to offer remedies for such health issue through educational advertise-
7 ments, including information such as, but not limited to, (1) treatment
8 options, (2) reducing the stigma of seeking help for addiction, and (3)
9 acknowledging addiction as a health issue (chemical related disorder),
10 rather than a lifestyle issue (choice).
11 § 2. The state finance law is amended by adding a new section 99-bb to
12 read as follows:
13 § 99-bb. Addiction awareness fund. 1. There is hereby established in
14 the joint custody of the state comptroller and the commissioner of taxa-
15 tion and finance a fund to be known as the "addiction awareness fund".
16 2. The fund shall consist of all monies appropriated for its purpose,
17 and all monies required by any provision of law to be paid into or cred-
18 ited to such fund. Nothing contained herein shall prevent the department
19 of health from receiving grants, gifts or bequests for the purposes of
20 the fund as defined in this section and depositing them into the fund
21 according to law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10854-03-7
S. 5831 2
1 3. Monies shall be payable from the fund on the audit and warrant of
2 the state comptroller on vouchers approved and certified by the commis-
3 sioner of health.
4 § 3. The sum of five million dollars ($5,000,000), or so much thereof
5 as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated to the department of health
6 out of any moneys in the state treasury in the general fund to the cred-
7 it of the addiction awareness fund, not otherwise appropriated, and made
8 immediately available, for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of
9 this act. Such moneys shall be payable on the audit and warrant of the
10 comptroller on vouchers certified or approved by the commissioner of
11 health in the manner prescribed by law.
12 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.