Murphy Presents Plan to Combat Heroin Addiction

From State Sen. Terrence Murphy’s Office

Senator Terrence P. Murphy brought together experts to evaluate his 7-point plan to combat the scourge of heroin addiction. The event included local elected officials as well as experts from the fields of law enforcement, addiction, treatment and education and was held at Mount Pleasant Town Hall Jan. 29.

The specifics of the plan include:

1. Sponsoring legislation to require insurance companies to cover drug treatment and rehab up to ninety days;
2. Using drug seizure proceeds to provide funding for NARCAN, a potentially life-saving overdose treatment, to all first responders;
3. To help with prevention, state funding for school resource officers (Police SROs) and Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) in all area schools by restoring the Gap Elimination Adjustment school aid cuts made by Senate Democrats in 2010;
4. Forming an federal-interstate-local joint, inter-agency law enforcement counter-narcotics proliferation task force and removing legal barriers to data sharing, aspects of which are already underway;
5. A state grant program for a local narcotics units to provide stepped up enforcement against drug distributors
6. Increasing penalties for major narcotics traffickers; and
7. Restoring funding cuts enacted by Senate Democrats to the NYS Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) to fund peer recovery advocate, addiction services and treatment programs.

“I’m a father and a health professional,” Murphy said. “Seeing so many young people die in such a senseless way has been eating at my heart for a long time. Now as Senator I have an opportunity to lead by stepping up and making a difference for the families of the Hudson Valley, and this Seven Point Plan does just that.”

The Mount Pleasant event is the first in a series of forums over the coming months which will take place throughout Murphy’s district.

PHOTO: Westchester County Legislator Michael Smith addresses a crowd at Mt. Pleasant Town Hall on January 29th at a forum on heroin and opioid addiction sponsored by State Senator Terrence Murphy/contributed