TRENTON — People could be ordered by courts to participate in outpatient treatment if their drug addiction puts their lives or the lives of others in danger, under a bill approved by a state Assembly panel Thursday.

The measure was strongly supported by parents who have lost children to an overdose.



"Addiction is every bit as debilitating as schizophrenia, major depression and other forms of severe and persistent mental illness, said Alba Herrera of Levittown, Pa., whose 24-year-old son, Nicholas Rohdes — a "typical boy next door" from Colts Neck who played Little League and loved the Yankees — died from a heroin overdose on Feb. 12.



But an addiction diagnosis alone does not qualify for admission into the state's involuntary outpatient treatment program, which gives a judge discretion to decide whether people can be ordered to attend therapy to protect them from hurting themselves or others or destroying property, said Assemblyman Raj Mukherji (D-Hudson), who drafted the bill (A3227) after meeting with Herrera and other grieving parents.



Herrera pleaded with the Assembly Human Services Committee to support the bill, which would expand the involuntary outpatient commitment law's definition of mental illness to include addiction.



"These young men and women suffer from a disease called addiction. This disease cannot be cured by willpower," Herrera said. "Saying that it's an addict's decision to use or not is akin to saying that it's a schizophrenic's decision to hear or not hear voices. When a person they need help and support, even if it means going to rehab against their will."



Peggy Farah of Jersey City, whose only child, her 24-year-old son Ben, died from an accidental overdose last year, said she supports involuntary commitment because addiction doesn't just take over "the user — it's the whole family."



"I believe this bill would allow families to get their loved into a program that really would open the family's eyes to the root of the problem," she said.



Mukherji noted the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the reference guide for psychiatrists and psychologists, includes "substance use disorder" in its definition of mental illness.



"We need to approach addictions the same way we do any other disease or illness," he said. "We've heard of far too many parents grieving the loss of a child because there was only so much they could do for them within our existing laws. It's time to give family members greater power to save their loved ones."



The committee also approved a related bill named "Nick Rohdes' Law" that would regulate the "sober living house" and "recovery home" industry in New Jersey, which Herrera said failed to help her son when he needed it most.



Rohdes relapsed in early February, and was evicted from a sober living house in Lambertville a few days later on Feb. 11. He showed up at his mother's home later that day, never disclosing he was using drugs or had been evicted, she said. "He kissed me goodnight,, told me he loved me and went to bed. The next morning my son was dead from a heroin overdose," Herrera said.



Herrera said when she demanded to know why the sober house management did not tell her her son had been kicked out, "I was told that my son was a grown man and had made his own decisions."



The bill would require facility managers to contact a resident's spouse, parent, guardian, designated next-of-kin, or other designated emergency contact upon the patient's release from treatment at the facility, as long as the resident consents. The bill would also put the Department of Human Services in charge of licensing sober living homes and other residential aftercare facilities.



Jennifer Hansen, a recovering addict who operates recovery and "Serenity Homes" in Atlantic County, agreed the Lambertville house manager should have contacted Rohdes' family. But she asked the committee to resist the urge to impose burdensome regulations on an industry that for the most part is working well. "We've seen a lot of success," she said.



"You may be doing it the right way, but we do not know about the others," said Assembly Committee Chairwoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle, (D-Bergen) who sponsored both bills with Mukherji.



"Sober living homes, if run properly, can be an important transitional facility for recovering addicts," she said. "Sadly, we've heard a number of stories where, without proper oversight, they became a haven for recovering addicts to die in the shadows. We need to make sure they are being regulated properly so that this doesn't happen."