What is a Section 12 A?
In Massachusetts, Section 12 of Chapter 123 of the Massachusetts General Laws controls the admission of an individual to a general or psychiatric hospital for psychiatric evaluation and, potentially, treatment. Section 12(a) allows for an individual to be brought against his or her will to such a hospital for evaluation.
There is a high rate of suicide in alcoholics and other drug abusers. The reasons believed to cause the increased risk of suicide include the long-term abuse of alcohol and other drugs causing physiological distortion of brain chemistry as well as the social isolation. Another factor is the acute intoxicating effects of the drugs may make suicide more likely to occur. Suicide is also very common in adolescent alcohol abusers, with 1 in 4 suicides in adolescents being related to alcohol abuse. In the USA approximately 30 percent of suicides are related to alcohol abuse. Alcohol abuse is also associated with increased risks of committing criminal offences including child abuse, domestic violence, rapes, burglaries and assaults.
Report on the Impact of Chapter 249 of the Acts of 2000
General Laws: Chapter 123, Section 12
Massachusetts General Law Chapter 123, Section 12 Legal Questions
Four Tales of Overdose Survival
CHAPTER 123, SECTION 12 