Texas Health and Safety Code - HEALTH & SAFETY § 466.001. Legislative Intent

(a) It is the intent of the legislature that the department exercise its administrative powers and regulatory authority to ensure the proper use of approved narcotic drugs in the treatment of persons with a narcotic dependency.

(b) Treatment of narcotic addiction by permitted treatment programs is recognized as a specialty chemical dependency treatment area using the medical model.

(c) Short-term goals should have an emphasis of personal and public health, crime prevention, reintegration of persons with a narcotic addiction into the public work force, and social and medical stabilization. Narcotic treatment programs are an important component of the state's effort to prevent the further proliferation of the AIDS virus. Total drug abstinence is recognized as a long-term goal of treatment, subject to medical determination of the medical appropriateness and prognosis of the person with a narcotic addiction.