On Thursday, Nov. 12, WMU-Cooley Law School hosted "Paradigm Shift: Changing Law and Education to Better Support Addiction Recovery." The conference focused on improving addiction recovery support within the criminal justice and educational systems, and featured nationally recognized speakers, including Michigan Lieutenant Governor Brian Calley; Craig DeRoche, former Speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives and executive director of the Justice Fellowship in Washington, D.C.; Ivana Grahovac, executive director of Transforming Youth Recovery; and Michael Johnson, founder of the Justice/Quade Recovery Institute.
During his remarks, Calley stated that addiction is a disease, and that it needs to be recognized and treated as a disease, without stigma or shame. He noted that when a person contracts cancer due to smoking cigarettes, no one says that the person should be denied treatment because he brought the disease on himself by smoking. "No one says that," Calley repeated, adding that individuals struggling with addiction to drugs or alcohol should not be denied treatment, or stigmatized based on the idea they brought their condition on themselves.
Others speakers included: Patrick Corbett, assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan; Ljubisa Dragovic, Oakland County medical examiner; Judge Linda Davis of the 41B Sobriety Court and founder of Families Against Narcotics (FAN); Kristen Harper, executive director of Association of Recovery Schools; Lauren Rousseau, law professor at Western Michigan University Cooley Law School, Scott Masi, behavioral health and outreach coordinator for Brighton Center for Recovery, and Deborah Garrett, communications director for REAL Michigan.
"The conference allowed those in attendance to learn why it is important to change laws regarding those fighting addiction," said WMU-Cooley professor Lauren Rousseau, who coordinated conference. "The legal system is getting backlogged by treating those struggling with addiction as criminals. We are beginning to make strides in helping those suffering from addiction by getting them the proper care."
Conference attendees also learned about the scope of addiction in the United States and Michigan as well as current barriers in place that have slowed addiction recovery efforts in the educational systems.
"People are seeing a need for change," said Angela Spino, who attended the conference. "Now it's time to work hard."
Published: Tue, Nov 24, 2015
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