CT SB00353

Expands the Connecticut Alcohol and Drug Policy Council membership from 7 to 13 appointed members, adding licensed alcohol and drug counselors, pharmacists, municipal police chiefs, emergency medical technicians, and the executive director of the Health Assistance Intervention Education Network.

Requires the council to develop a comprehensive, statewide plan addressing medication-assisted treatment, overdose rescue strategies, safer drug prescribing practices, peer recovery services, and a web platform for community input and treatment service listings.

Allows primary care providers (physicians, advanced practice registered nurses, and physician assistants) to refer patients to licensed alcohol and drug counselors for opioid abuse assessment or to condition opioid prescriptions on counselor referral acceptance.

Authorizes licensed alcohol and drug counselors to conduct substance use disorder screenings, develop preliminary diagnoses, assess prescription drug abuse risk, and submit consultation reports to primary care providers for inclusion in patient medical records.

Permits auricular acupuncture for alcohol and drug abuse treatment under physician supervision in any setting, expanding beyond the previously restricted facility types.