Involuntary care and commitment policies are changing rapidly across the country, raising urgent questions about treatment access, coercion, civil rights, and the impact on people who use drugs. This AMERSA webinar will bring together experts in law, policy, advocacy, and behavioral health to discuss current state policy trends, implications for people who use drugs and other highly surveilled communities, the evidence base on involuntary treatment, and strategies for effective advocacy. The webinar is open to AMERSA members and the public.
Panelists:
Morgan Godvin is an internationally recognized expert in drug policy and substance use. Committed to bridging the gap between science and policy, she served on the Oregon Alcohol and Drug Policy Commission, the Measure 110 Oversight and Accountability Council, and other state, county, and city committees. She founded the overdose prevention nonprofit Beats Overdose and provided harm reduction at festivals and events nationwide, in partnership with Rhymesayers Entertainment. She is a researcher at UCLA's Drug Checking Los Angeles, focusing on opioids and the illicit drug supply. She has lived experience with substance use disorder and incarceration and is based in Portland, Oregon.
Dr. John C Messinger is a practicing general internal medicine physician with a focus on care of the underserved, particularly those experiencing homelessness and struggling with substance use disorders. He is a graduate of Harvard Medical School and completed internal medicine residency at University of California, San Francisco in the San Francisco General Hospital Primary Care General Internal Medicine Track. Throughout his medical training and career, Dr. Messinger has authored numerous academic publications and participated in legislative advocacy on issues for people who use drugs with a focus on involuntary treatments for substance use disorders. He currently resides in San Francisco, where he is an attending physician at the San Francisco Free Clinic and a Volunteer Clinical Instructor in the San Francisco General Hospital Division of General Internal Medicine.
Kellen Russoniello, JD, MPH, is the Director of Public Health at the Drug Policy Alliance. He drives DPA’s efforts to expand public health approaches to drug use, including increasing access to harm reduction interventions and evidence-based substance use disorder treatment. He supports partner organizations across the country by drafting drug policy reform legislation, developing supportive advocacy materials, and providing technical assistance. Kellen has been fighting for drug policy and criminal legal system reform for over fifteen years, with previous positions at Community Legal Aid SoCal, the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties, and on the national board of directors for Students for Sensible Drug Policy.
Facilitator:
Kate Roberts, PhD, MSW, MDiv, is a Senior Research and Policy Fellow with Disability Rights California, licensed psychotherapist, and researcher focused on substance use, harm reduction, drug policy, and behavioral health systems. Her work centers on access to harm reduction and substance use treatment services, using disability rights as a lens for understanding barriers to care, inappropriate coercion, and service access. She has extensive experience with California behavioral health policy and has consulted with the California Department of Health Care Services on policies related to the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act, CARE Court, and involuntary substance use treatment. Her work bridges clinical practice, qualitative research, policy analysis, and public health implementation, with a focus on strengthening rights, access, and person-centered care in addiction and behavioral health systems.
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