Addiction is a serious issue that continues to claim the lives of innocent people across the state and country. There’s no way to sugarcoat it. Addiction takes a devastating toll on the body and the mind and fractures relationships with family and friends.

Once the illness has taken hold, it can be extremely difficult for a person to break the cycle. Addiction doesn’t discriminate based on factors like race, gender or income level – it can happen to anyone. Heroin addiction and opioid abuse is a nationwide concern that has hit Onondaga County especially hard.

According to the Department of Health, the opioid crisis claimed the lives of 236 people in Onondaga County from 2013-15.¹ Opioid-related deaths have tragically continued to rise each year. There were 65 reported deaths in 2013, which increased to 77 in 2014 before climbing to 94 in 2015.²

Like any addiction, heroin dependence starts small and builds over time. Opioid abuse can begin with prescription painkillers from a household medicine cabinet. We can all play a role in preventing a loved one from falling victim to addiction, and it starts at home. There are a number of ways to secure your medicine cabinets.

Keep an inventory of prescription and over-the-counter medicines, including the date of purchase, quantity and recommended dosage of each bottle. Keep medicine out of reach of adolescents and young children by securing them in locked cabinets.

Safely removing unnecessary drugs from the house is another way you can help fight the opioid epidemic. Oct. 28 is National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, where residents can drop off unused medication at a safe and convenient location.

From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., several Kinney Drugs and Walgreen’s locations across the region will have controlled substance drop boxes where residents can safely deposit their old or unused medications. More than 900,000 pounds of unused prescription drugs were collected nationally during the most recent event on April 29.³

While residents do their part, I will continue to do mine in the Assembly. This year, I helped pass a state budget that increased funding to fight the heroin epidemic and expand access to treatment by $43 million over last year, bringing the total funding to $213 million. This funding will help treatment and prevention programs better support the needs of those struggling with addiction by providing family support navigators, peer support, recovery houses and community coalitions.

The budget also includes an additional $10 million to increase the number of beds available at inpatient facilities. For those seeking treatment, I helped pass laws that increase the maximum time for detoxification in a treatment facility from 48 to 72 hours (Ch. 69 of 2016) and require insurance companies to cover a minimum of 14 days of inpatient care (Ch. 71 of 2016). Both of these laws help ensure patients seeking help receive the best available treatment.

For many, the cost of treatment is too expensive to afford on one’s own and can put vital help and support services out of reach if insurance won’t help cover the cost. That’s why I sponsored a bill that would require insurance companies to provide a minimum of 90 days of inpatient substance abuse rehabilitative treatment to insured persons with a prescription from a doctor (A.492). I also successfully delivered $10,000 in funding to help ACR Health expand their harm reduction initiatives. Cost should never be a barrier to seeking help when it’s needed.

We can all play a pivotal role in the ongoing battle to fight the opioid and heroin epidemic taking place in our local communities. No one should live a life held hostage by addiction. For those seeking help and looking for more information on how to talk to family members and friends about heroin and opioid addiction, visit combatheroinny

As always, feel free to reach out to me about this or any other issue you may have by calling 315-452-1115 or via email at StirpeA@nyassembly.gov.

_____________________________________________

¹ health.ny.gov/statistics/opioid/data/d1.htm

² Ibid.

³ dea.gov/divisions/hq/2017/hq050817a.shtml