ADDRESSING THE HEROIN EPIDEMIC TAKES INITIATIVE

Legislative Column from Assemblyman Brian Curran (Lynbrook-21st A.D.)

In 2004, 2,102 people were admitted to a New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services-certified program in Nassau County for heroin or prescription opiate addiction. By 2013, that number had risen to 4,222. Heroin use has more than doubled among 18- to 25-year-olds in the past decade. Here in Nassau County, Police Commissioner Thomas Krumpter said there were 10 murders in Nassau County by shootings last year, but 90 deaths in the county due to drug overdose. It is time we recognize and prioritize the problem of heroin in our community.

The heroin epidemic sweeping the nation has hit hard in New York. Families across Long Island and this state are being torn apart by this deadly drug. We must go beyond statistics and help impacted families on a personal, visceral level. Heroin addiction is a contributing factor to problems ranging from healthcare to gang violence to other drug abuse and much more. As such, formulating a strategy to combat this epidemic will require a multifaceted approach, including legislative solutions, targeted law enforcement, better education and improvements to heroin treatment facilities.

That is why, on September 22, I gladly co-hosted a Nassau/Suffolk County Forum with my Assembly Republican colleagues to look into, gather information and begin developing a comprehensive plan to combat the destructive effects of heroin in New York State. Representatives from rehabilitation and treatment organizations and facilities, law enforcement and criminal justice, as well as recovering addicts and families were invited to take part and give valuable feedback. This was the first of many scheduled forums the Assembly Republican Conference will be conducting on the issue throughout the state.

In 2014, the state Legislature passed a package of 11 bills that sought to address the prescription painkiller epidemic by increasing criminal penalties for dealers, and developed programs and services regarding drug prevention and treatment. The legislature also approved the development and release of an overdose reversal drug agent to a trained public. In 2011, we implemented a “Good Samaritan Law” to encourage the immediate reporting of an overdose.

Earlier this year, I, along with Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano, Town of Hempstead Senior Councilman Anthony J. Santino, Lynbrook Mayor William Hendrick, the Nassau County Police Department and local community organizations, hosted two Substance Abuse Awareness and Overdose Prevention trainings for families using Narcan (naloxone), the overdose-reversal agent. This training helped teach parents, guardians, neighbors or friends of those struggling with substance abuse what to do in case of an overdose and how to administer this life-saving injection.

The takeaway from these events is that much more needs to be done to slow the use of heroin in our community. To combat this drug, I believe we must:

Awareness/Prevention

• Expand drug awareness programs in our communities like “Too Good For Drugs,” sponsored by the Nassau County Police Department. Such programs are vital in showing kids the deathly effects of drugs and providing parents with the tools to talk to their children about drugs and the services available to treat addiction; and

• Provide additional funding for community based anti-drug coalitions.

Treatment

• Create more statewide beds for recovery and treatment. The average waiting time for a person to be admitted into a in-patient drug rehabilitation facility is anywhere between 10 days and two weeks, which is too long;

• Pass legislation similar to Pennsylvania Act 106, which mandated insurance coverage for drug treatment and rehab and called for a medical professional, not insurance companies, to determine length of treatment;

• Require additional funding for training and supplies of overdose treatment, first responders, schools and medical providers;

• Increase follow-up medical services and counseling to help recovered addicts stay “clean” and expand support services for children and family members of addicts;

• Pass legislation similar to the Marchman Act of the State of Florida, which provides for the involuntary or voluntary assessment and stabilization of a person allegedly abusing substances like drugs or alcohol, and provides for treatment of substance abuse; and

• Pass Assembly Bill 355 to require continued education of health care professionals with regard to substance abuse and over-prescribing of drugs.

Enforcement

• Pass criminal penalties that allow district attorneys to seek a felony homicide charge against drug dealers whose sales resulted in death by overdose and increase criminal penalties on dealers who sell to children or use “enhancers” or look-a-like “designer” drugs in the preparing, mixture, or selling of drugs;

• Revise the judicial diversion program adopted by New York State in 2009 as part of the reform of the Rockefeller Drug Laws. Under diversion, the court “diverts” individuals charged with drug offenses from mandatory jail sentences to probation or a treatment program. I am not advocating for a return to the days of these drug laws at this time, where there were mass incarcerations for drug possession, but the state has swung too far to the other side with unlimited diversion policy, allowing hardcore drug dealers to escape criminal prosecution.

For example, a drug dealer must be caught with possession of a substantial amount of heroin before he is ineligible for a judicial diversion program. A drug dealer who literally drives a truckload of marijuana into New York State could be given probation instead of jail time (in the context of a plea agreement). Law enforcement from both Nassau and Suffolk counties expressed at the forum that diversion has a proper place in our drug sentencing, but at the same time there are “significant problems with diversion” that must be addressed.

​ Only with a comprehensive strategy of gathering and utilizing information from those with firsthand experience of heroin’s devastating effects, as well as the problems and deficiencies with the current services and programs, can we fully address this growing problem. It’s time to face heroin head-on and act to stop further tragedies and families from being destroyed by this addictive drug.

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