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Beach House Rehab Center » Blog » The Florida Marchman Act
Addiction is a chronic, relapsing disease defined by dangerous irresponsibility and impulsivity. Convincing a substance-dependent individual to voluntarily seek treatment is difficult at best. Many live in chronic denial about the seriousness of their drug abuse and addiction, refusing well-intentioned attempts to offer help despite escalating social, professional, medical, and legal consequences.
To families who are chained to a love one caught in addiction’s irrational grips, hope for a better life can seem dim, if not impossible. Although interventions can prove successful if executed with skill and caution, they frequently backfire, triggering hostile or other threatening responses. In an effort to simultaneously preserve the integrity of the family unit and protect individuals struggling with addiction, Florida is one of over a dozen states with laws geared toward involuntary commitment to substance abuse treatment.
Under Florida law, once an individual reaches the age of 18 they are legally an adult and cannot be forced to seek medical treatment— unless they are deemed unfit to make logical decisions or are considered a danger to themselves and/or others. The “Florida Marchman Act”—officially known as the “Hal S. Marchman Alcohol and Other Drug Services Act of 1993”—allows for the involuntary commitment of an individual struggling with substance-induced mental illness.
Prior to its passage, Florida families had no legal recourse against the dangers imposed upon them, by a loved one struggling with drug addiction. Aside from restraining orders or having their loved one arrested for battery, theft, and other criminal behavior, their hands were tied even despite mental instability or physical harm due to a substance abuse problem. The Marchman Act now offers a viable alternative.
Like many legal proceedings, the Marchman Act must be initiated by filing a petition. To qualify, a court-recognized authority must file the petition for involuntary assessment at the county court in which the impaired individual lives. In addition to being filed in “good faith,” the petitioner must also demonstrate reason to believe that the individual in question—the respondent—has lost self-control to such a degree that they are a threat to the well-being of themselves and others without mandatory, court-ordered treatment. The court also requires a petitioner to demonstrate that the respondent is incapable of acting rationally with regard to the necessity of receiving treatment.
According to the original Marchman Act, a court-recognized authority was defined as a spouse, blood relative, or any three parties who had direct knowledge of a person’s drug addiction in cases where an individual had no immediate family. Effective July 1, 2016, a modification to the act now allows only one unrelated person having direct knowledge of an individual’s addiction to meet criteria, making it easier to initiate the process.
Further modifications allow people suffering from co-occurring disorders such as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia to be included in the act, whereas previously, county-funded facilities refused to admit them. This law is especially beneficial to families whose loved ones suffer from known mental illness accompanied by substance abuse—even if substance abuse is not the primary issue.
To briefly summarize the process, approval of a Marchman Act petition requires evidence that the following four elements meet criteria:
After a petition has been filed and relevant testimony heard by the appropriate court, the court enters an order for involuntary assessment. This court order provides the legal mechanism necessary to evaluate and stabilize the impaired individual for a period of up to five days.
Upon successful completion of the assessment, all findings are carefully reviewed by the court. If the court finds sufficient evidence that involuntary treatment is necessary, they may enter an order for involuntary treatment for a period of up to 60 days.
A judge may also enter a 90-day extension if deemed necessary. If an individual prematurely leaves treatment in violation of a judge’s orders, or refuses to comply with treatment terms and conditions, they must answer to the court and are immediately returned to involuntarily care. If further defiance occurs, an individual may be held in civil contempt, after which time they face incarceration.
The following three options are available when filing a petition with the court:
Fortunately, an individual does not need to be a Florida resident in order to be considered eligible for treatment under the Marchman Act. Drug addiction is undeniably linked to a transient lifestyle, and Florida courts generously allow accessible treatment for those out-of-state. Many families specifically send loved ones to Florida so that they can finally receive the treatment they need after exhausting all other reasonable options.
Successfully employing the Marchman Act to help a loved one with addiction can be an extremely challenging and time-consuming process. In certain cases, the sheriff may not be able to serve the order for involuntary treatment because the individual in need of treatment cannot be found. Some are fugitives, incapacitated, or deliberately avoid responding to repeated attempts to locate them.
Another common pitfall involves conflicting priorities— serving a Marchman Act order may simply not be a priority for the local sheriff. Many jurisdictions are overworked, understaffed and do not respond favorably to being forced to involuntarily commit someone to treatment when they are inundated with drug-traffickers, murderers and rapists.
Efforts to help a loved one via the Marchman Act may also be sabotaged by the deliberate manipulation tactics of a respondent. Wise to their self-created predicament, and aware of the pending consequences, some arrive for involuntary treatment appearing clean cut and sober, with little to no traces of mind-altering substances in their system. As a result, they are released within a day or two by a duped staff in accordance with Florida law.
Critics of the Florida Marchman Act attack the very premise of the legislation—claiming that treatment doesn’t work unless and until an individual wants it for themselves. They regularly cite soaring relapse rates and treatment failure statistics to support its abolition and undermine its merits.
Conversely, proponents recognize the sanity robbing power of addiction and the unprecedented toll it takes on families, many of whom are totally devastated by the time they consider resorting to such an extreme intervention. One thing both critics and proponents mutually agree upon: the Florida Marchman Act should be viewed as a last resort after other options have been exhausted and if voluntary treatment is not an option for your loved one.
For more information about the Florida Marchman Act and addiction treatment, check out these related articles or call our addiction treatment experts:
Sources:
Department of Children and Families (DCF). Marchman Act User Reference Guide 2003. Jan, 2003.
Journal of Addictive Diseases. Civil Commitment for Substance Use Disorder Patients Under the Florida Marchman Act: Demographics and Outcomes in the Private Clinical Setting. Jan, 2013.
Journal of American Medicine Association (JAMA). Using Florida’s Marchman Act & Other Means to Eradicate Our Substance Abuse Epidemic. Aug, 2014.
OLR Research Report. Florida Law on Substance Abuse Treatment. Dec, 2012.
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