Lawmakers weigh next steps in fight against heroin
ALBANY, N.Y. » New York state lawmakers are touting big steps in the fight against heroin and opioid addiction, but say much more needs to be done to fight the wave of drug abuse and overdoses.
The Legislature included $214 million in this year’s state budget for efforts to prevent and treat addiction. But other proposals to stiffen penalties for heroin dealers stalled in the final weeks of the legislative session. Republicans said it makes sense to increase penalties for dealers, especially when they sell drugs that cause a lethal overdose. Democrats in the state Assembly, however, said rising rates of addiction and overdose show the decades-long war on drugs isn’t working, and that the state should prioritize treatment and rehabilitation over punishment.
The debate is likely to resurface as lawmakers continue to look for ways to help addicts and their communities deal with the problem.
“It’s amazing how many lives have been touched by this,” said state Sen. Chris Jacobs, R-Buffalo, one of the co-chairs of the Senate’s Joint Task Force on Heroin and Opioid Addiction. He said he’s pleased the state is investing more to address addiction, but thinks officials must do more to support people just beginning their recovery. “Sometimes these folks are just told, ‘You’re stable, good luck.’”
The task force meets in Buffalo on Wednesday to discuss the strain heroin and opioid addiction is putting on hospitals and emergency personnel and how local communities are responding.
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, nearly 2,200 New Yorkers died in 2015 following opioid overdoses, making the state the second in the nation after Ohio when it comes to opioid overdose fatalities. Fewer than 500 such deaths were reported in New York in 2000.
The $214 million approved earlier this year will support residential treatment beds and outpatient services, as well as fund the use of the heroin antidote naloxone. The state has also taken steps in recent years to limit the length of new opioid prescriptions and create programs to help people in recovery connect to jobs, education and housing.
Supporters say the money pays for a comprehensive approach that aims to discourage abuse, connect addicts with help, and give law enforcement and health officials the tools they need.
Legislation to boost penalties for dealers isn’t the only opioid-related measure to fall short this year. So too did proposals to authorize the state’s first supervised injection facilities, which would allow users to consume drugs under the watchful eye of medical professionals who could intervene if needed.
“We can’t sit back any longer while our friends and loved ones die when we know there is more we could be doing, right now, to protect those most at risk,” said Shantae Owens, a former drug user who now pushes for greater assistance for addicts as a member of the organization VOCAL-NY.