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- Title
SEEING AND SERVING STUDENTS WITH SUBSTANCE USE DISORDERS THROUGH DISABILITY LAW.
- Authors
CRAGG, PARKER
- Abstract
The opioid epidemic has brought the immense harms of substance abuse to the fore of national attention. Despite a growing bipartisan consensus that substance use disorders are best addressed through treatment and community support, rather than punitive deterrence measures, policymakers have yet to allocate the necessary resources for a comprehensive and evidence-based national drug policy. Until that occurs, advocates for individuals with substance use disorders must search for reform opportunities within existing law and policy. To that end, this Article explores whether, and to what degree, the federal disability statutes that are applicable to public schools—the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Americans with Disabilities Act—can “see” and serve adolescents with substance use disorders within the public school system. It argues that substance use disorders can be educationimpacting disabilities, that the general failure to recognize and address substance use disorders in school settings is due to widespread misperception of substance-involved students, and that a novel-butreasonable interpretation of existing law could provide a meaningful degree of support for certain students with substance use disorders. This Article has three objectives: (1) to instigate a debate in an uncharted area of education law and policy; (2) to provide a comprehensive survey of current medical research and special education case law for advocates of students with substance use disorders; and (3) to direct further attention to the broader inadequacies of special education law and policy for students with mental health challenges. The implications of this debate, upon the lives of the estimated 1.6 million adolescents with substance use disorders and upon education policy generally, are profound.
- Subjects
UNITED States; SUBSTANCE use of youth; SUBSTANCE-induced disorders; STUDENT health services; AMERICANS with Disabilities Act of 1990; DISABILITY laws; SUBSTANCE abuse; EDUCATION policy
- Publication
Southern California Law Review, 2023, Vol 96, Issue 2, p355
- ISSN
0038-3910
- Publication type
Article