Stays at NCI will increase to 3 days

By Zsombor Peter
Staff Writer

GALLUP — Beginning July 1, people dropped off at the Na'Nizhoozhi Center for public intoxication should be prepared to stick around for up to three days. Because in a little over three months from now, they won't have a choice.

Following of provision of the state's Detoxification Act, detox facilities like the Na'Nizhoozhi Center (NCI) used to be able to hold patients dropped off by public safety authorities for up to five days; however, since being sued in 2002 for violating one man's civil rights while putting the provision to use, the center hasn't tried holding patients any longer than it takes them to sober up, at least not without a specific court order.

With the New Mexico Legislature's approval of some extensive reforms to the act, sponsored by a pair of local representatives, NCI and its counterparts around the state barring the governor's veto will once again have the power to hold patients involuntarily after they're sober.

Despite lingering concerns of the potential for civil rights abuses that slowed the bill down, NCI and Gallup city officials insist the reforms are a necessary tool for combating the area's problems with alcohol abuse. The House and Senate eventually approved the bill unanimously.

"I'm very happy about that," said NCI Director Raymond Daw. "It will be a good bill for the state of New Mexico, let alone Gallup."

Though three days is only a modest increase from the 12- to-16-hour involuntary holds NCI has been restricted to for the past three years, Daw insists the gain is critical, especially for "chronics," patients with severe alcohol abuse problems who end up at the center repeatedly.

"Because the chronics that right now make up 20 percent of our commitments are the ones people are most concerned about, doing three-day holds gives us a longer time to stabilize them physically," he said, since their judgment may be impaired even after the immediate effects of a hangover wear off. "And it gives us time to talk to them more about the damage they're doing to themselves, to their families, and to their communities."

And since 12 hours isn't always enough time to contact patients' families especially when they don't have phones, a common obstacle on the reservation the longer holds give NCI staff a better chance of releasing patients into a family member's care.

That might also help NCI avoid a repeat of recent allegations from the Arizona city of Holbrook, which claims the center's drivers were dropping people off in public places, like gas stations and the parking lot of the local Safeway, instead of taking them home. NCI officials continue to deny the "dumping" charges.

The bill's passage also coincides with the Gallup Police Department's request for three additional protective custody officers, who are tasked with picking up intoxicated people around town who might pose a danger to others or themselves.

At the City Council's request, the department stepped up its efforts this winter to pick up intoxicated individuals at risk of falling asleep outside during cold nights and freezing to death. Despite the effort, Gallup has already suffered five exposure victims this season; at least three of them had recently been released from NCI.

The longer holds and extra officers might help the city prevent more deaths next winter.

Revising the Detoxification Act was the City Council's top legislative priority this year. But there were concerns that the Legislature's last day, March 19, would arrive before the bill approved by the House weeks ago could reach the Senate floor. The bill made it to the floor Thursday morning, despite a week's delay when an outdated draft of the bill was mistakenly introduced to the Senate along the way.

Another obstacle the bill had to overcome was Sen. Lidio Rainaldi, D-Gallup, who sat on the final committee the bill had to make it past before reaching the floor, the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Before the session got underway, Rainaldi was staunchly opposed to rewriting the Detoxification Act. If NCI and the city wanted to hold patients against their will for several days, he said, all they had to do was follow existing laws. City officials said the Act was so riddled with contradictions and ambiguities that NCI couldn't follow those laws without the risk of being sued again.

By the time the bill reached the Judiciary Committee, however, Rainaldi had changed his mind. After offering a list of amendments that removed language from the act providing for even longer holds, the senator joined the committee in unanimously approving the bill.

Rainaldi could not be reached for comment.

Daw and City Manager Eric Honeyfield said they weren't upset with the amendments, since the state has never given a single detox facility in New Mexico the authority to hold patients under that provision of the act anyway.

That won't keep the center from holding patients for weeks or months. Courts often order people convicted of committing some crime under the influence to complete weeks or months of treatment at the center, Daw said.