North Carolina § 90-113 - 30. Declaration of purpose.

§ 90-113. 30. Declaration of purpose.

The North Carolina Addictions Specialist Professional Practice Board, established by G.S. 90-113.32 , is recognized as the registering, certifying, and licensing authority for substance use disorder professionals described in this Article in order to safeguard the public health, safety, and welfare, to protect the public from being harmed by unqualified persons, to assure the highest degree of professional care and conduct on the part of credentialed substance use disorder professionals, to provide for the establishment of standards for the education of credentialed substance use disorder professionals, and to ensure the availability of credentialed substance use disorder professional services of high quality to persons in need of these services. It is the purpose of this Article to provide for the regulation of Board-credentialed persons offering substance use disorder counseling services, substance use disorder prevention services, or any other substance use disorder services for which the Board may grant registration, certification, or licensure. History (1993 (Reg. Sess., 1994), c. 685, s. 1; 1997-492, s. 1; 2005-431, s. 1; 2019-240, s. 8(b).) Cross References. - As to a civil action remedy for persons who are sexually exploited by their psychotherapists, see the Psychotherapy Patient/Client Sexual Exploitation Act, G.S. 90-21.41 et seq. Editor's Note. - Session Laws 2005-431, s. 3, provides: "All members serving on the North Carolina Substance Abuse Professional Practice Board on the effective date of this act shall complete their current three-year terms. Upon completion of their terms, newly appointed or elected members of the Board shall serve four-year terms pursuant to G.S. 90-113.33 [G.S. 90-113.32], as enacted in Section 1 of this act." Session Laws 2019-240, s. 8(a), effective January 1, 2020, and applicable to licenses granted or renewed on or after that date, rewrote the Article heading, which formerly read: "North Carolina Substance Abuse Professional Practice Act." Session Laws 2019-240, s. 8(p), made the amendment to this section by Session Laws 2019-240, s. 8(b), effective January 1, 2020, and applicable to licenses granted or renewed on or after that date. Effect of Amendments. - Session Laws 2005-431, s. 1, effective September 22, 2005, in the first sentence, substituted "Practice" for "Certification" "registering, certifying, and licensing" for "certifying" and "credentialed substance abuse professionals" for "certified substance abuse professionals", and at the end of the last sentence, substituted "registration, certification, or licensure" for "certification." Session Laws 2019-240, s. 8(b), substituted "substance use disorder" for "substance abuse" throughout the section; and substituted "Addictions Specialist" for "Substance Abuse" near the beginning of the first sentence. For effective date and applicability, see editor's note. Legal Periodicals. - For 1997 legislative survey, see 20 Campbell L. Rev. 469 (1998).