Alcoholism, Addiction, Disability & Discrimination John de Miranda, Executive Director, National Association on Alcohol, Drugs and Disability

DASA Conference Copyright 2006 NAADD 2 Antidotes to Discrimination  Civil rights movement  Women’s rights movement  Disability rights movement  Recovery rights movement

DASA Conference Copyright 2006 NAADD 3 The Alcohol, Drugs and Disability Connection The legal protections for alcoholics and addicts (active or in recovery) derive exclusively from disability rights legislation. There is no “Americans with Addictions Act.”

DASA Conference Copyright 2006 NAADD 4 The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 Disability defined: “A physical or mental impairment that constitutes or results in substantial impairment to employment, or that substantially limits one or more major life activities.”

Copyright Anthony Tusler

DASA Conference Copyright 2006 NAADD 6 Section 504 “No otherwise qualified handicapped individual in the United States…shall solely by reason of his handicap, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.”

DASA Conference Copyright 2006 NAADD 7 Americans with Disabilities Act Disability defined: A person who has  A physical or mental impairment that limits one or more major life activity  A record of such an impairment  Is regarded as having such an impairment

DASA Conference Copyright 2006 NAADD 8 Major Life Activities:  Personal care tasks  Speaking  Breathing  Thinking  Learning  Working  Manual tasks  Walking  Seeing  Hearing

DASA Conference Copyright 2006 NAADD 9 Recovery Advocacy

DASA Conference Copyright 2006 NAADD 10 Disability Advocacy

DASA Conference Copyright 2006 NAADD 11 Relevant Case Law  Alaska v. Exxon  EEOC v. Exxon  Hernandez v. Hughes Aircraft Sys. Co.

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DASA Conference Copyright 2006 NAADD 13 Trends in the Law and Public Policy  When does recovery start?  Who is covered (no active illicit drug users)?  Loss of SSI benefit for addiction  “Correcting” a disability  Veltri v. United Parcel Service  Morgan v. Wright

DASA Conference Copyright 2006 NAADD 14 Anti-discrimination Initiatives  Join Together / American Bar Association Policy Panel  Faces and Voices of Recovery  Johnson Institute Recovery Ambassadors Workshops  SAMHSA “Know Your Rights” Brochure

DASA Conference Copyright 2006 NAADD 15 The Alcohol, Drugs and Disability Connection “The alcohol and drug field’s public education efforts have focused on trying to convince policymakers and the public that addiction is a disease. The results of these attempts have been mixed, and the time has come to consider shifting efforts to the disability paradigm.”

DASA Conference Copyright 2006 NAADD 16 Recovery Rights Movement We are confronting discrimination in health and life insurance, housing, education, employment, and social services and are demanding the privileges and benefits available to other citizens. We are moving beyond our own personal recoveries to become catalysts for social change. The time to define the American recovery movement as a civil rights movement has arrived. William White

DASA Conference Copyright 2006 NAADD 17 National Association on Alcohol, Drugs and Disability, Inc Bunker Hill Drive San Mateo, CA TDD fax: