STAND. COM. REP. NO. 53

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 660

 

 

 

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2013

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Health, to which was referred S.B. No. 660 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to appropriate $10,000,000 for statewide drug and alcohol treatment efforts.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Community Alliance for Mental Health and the Hawaii Substance Abuse Coalition.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from one individual.

 

     Your Committee finds that due to funding cutbacks in prior years, many drug and alcohol treatment centers have closed, leaving a significant number of persons unable to receive affordable treatment for drug and alcohol addictions.  Your Committee finds that only 3.9 percent of people who have a drug or alcohol addiction get treatment.  Your Committee finds that extensive studies have shown that drug and alcohol treatment saves $4 in health care costs for every $1 spent for treatment.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 660 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Health,

 

 

 

____________________________

JOSH GREEN, Chair