It’s been nearly two years since the deadly details of Long Island’s heroin epidemic first made the news, yet the stories that continue to emerge get worse all the time.
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New York City prosecutors say LI’s moneyed users are actively targeted by city drug dealers who describe the way buyers flock to them as “feeding the birdies.” It’s been called “voguish” by treatment professionals. A top federal Drug Enforcement Agency investigator likened it to Freddy Krueger due to its frightening comeback after being dormant for decades.
Although the region has begun to face the Nightmare on Main Street, this killer drug that claims about two lives per week is still apparently viewed as “cool” to naïve teenagers and young adults. And so LI’s war on heroin rages on.
On Monday, Nassau County officials announced a comprehensive anti-drug curriculum as their latest weapon. Two weeks prior they had unveiled an awareness campaign aimed at preventing more young people from trying heroin and police beefed up narcotics investigations. Earlier, New York State lawmakers from Nassau proposed a law that would allow prosecutors to charge drug dealers with manslaughter when connected to a fatal overdose.
In Suffolk County, legislators are considering a measure to begin using Suboxone as a part of a new initiative to better treat withdrawal symptoms and help combat relapse in adolescents that are not longtime addicts. Lawmakers are considering the creation of a Heroin Epidemic Advisory Panel as well, although both bills are still in committee.
Meanwhile schools in both counties continue to host forums to shares tips on how to combat the scourge—but there is an understanding that not one tactic alone is a silver bullet. Prevention, treatment and enforcement must work hand in hand.
“You cannot arrest your way out of a heroin epidemic,” Nassau County Executive Mangano said while announcing the Too Good For Drugs education program at a news conference in Massapequa, one of the areas hit hardest by the epidemic.
The kindergarten-through-12th-grade lesson plans teach students how to be socially-competent autonomous problem solvers. It is designed to reduce risk factors related to cigarettes, alcohol and drug abuse by building on the lessons with each passing year. The program’s creator’s, The Mendez Foundation, trained school officials, substance abuse professionals and police how to teach the curriculum this week.
Nassau County police previously had detailed Operation HALT, an acronym for Heroin Abuse Location & Targeting, which is a joint effort of police, probation village, city and Suffolk County and federal partners. The initiative, which comes shortly after Suffolk County police also announced added narcotics investigation resources, targets heroin users traveling in and out of the county to purchase heroin in what authorities described as a “casual distribution network” of addicts that buy heroin for themselves in the city, then sell to their friends.
That plan was joined with the debut of the county’s public service announcement campaign aimed at parents who may be in denial or oblivious to the warning signs that their child could be a heroin addict.
“We are seeing a lot of Straight-A students and athletes that are heroin users,” said Commissioner Lawrence Mulvey. “In almost all cases parents do not suspect their kid is a heroin user because they are doing well in school or they are involved in athletics. By the time parents become aware that there is a problem it is too late, their kids are hooked.”
Still, even when preventative, treatment and enforcement initiative can go from being proposed to being enacted relatively quickly, like-minded state legislation does not always move as fast.
The proposal to charge heroin dealers with second-degree manslaughter in the event of a fatal overdose might not come up in discussion until after Albany completes budget negotiations—with hopes of closing a $750 million deficit—as the more-often-missed-than-not April 1 deadline looms.
Defending the state’s notorious legislative gridlock was Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg (D-Long Beach), who proposed the bill in his chamber. “When a crisis comes to Albany, Albany has an ability to act,” he said, noting that upstate New York could benefit from the bill as well due to a methamphetamine problem in that region.
Sen. Craig Johnson (D-Port Washington), who proposed the bill in his chamber, aimed to send a message: “The days of us coddling drug dealers when they peddle their death to our children will finally be over,” he said.
Critics said if the bill were to become law it could prove useless. “What they have to prove would make it virtually impossible to ever make these cases,” said Bob McDonald, a criminal defense attorney with Collins, McDonald & Gann, adding that it would require that there be a witness to the drug deal that ultimately kills the buyer.
“Even though these cases are going to be difficult to prove, we’re going to bring them,” Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said at the Jan. 21 news conference announcing the bill alongside Weisenberg and Johnson.
“It’d be another tool in the toolbox,” said Detective Lt. Peter Donahue of Nassau’s Narcotics/Vice Bureau, who said he’s in favor of the bill if it provides more leverage for investigators in getting suspects to cooperate.
In Suffolk, Sen. Brian X Foley (D-Blue Point) proposed Denise’s Law, named for Denise Gerardi, a former Sachem High School student who died in 2008 following an accidental overdose.
The law would Law will help parents get detoxification treatment for teens by allowing them to petition a court to require an examination, and if needed, detox for minors who are suffering from addiction. Under current law teens can check themselves out before detox is finished.
If passed, the law would also require that drug addiction diagnosis and detoxification and other mental, nervous or emotional ailments be covered by health insurance companies.
Carrie Gerardi, Denise’s mother, who has since worked to raise awareness about drug addiction among parents and teens, said: “I can think of no better tribute to my daughter then to have this legislation, which will help parents get treatment to minors, named after Denise.”
Both bills are under consideration in committee.
Upcoming federal Drug Enforcement Agency school lectures:
March 8: William Floyd HS
March 10: Long Beach HS
March 16 and 18: Island Trees HS
March 19: Herricks HS
March 23: Bay Shore HS
April 14: Shoreham-Wading River HS
April 23: West Islip HS
April 26: Half Hollow Hills East HS
April 29: North Babylon HS
Other school lectures:
Plainedge School District
March 17, 7:30 pm: Dr. Stephen Dewey, an expert on the topic of how drug use effects the brain.
April 27, 7:30pm: Dr. Robert Dell’Amore, a noted chef and nutritionist, will speak about the link between sharing meals with your children and the positive effects on their behavior and achievement
Cold Harbor School District
March 3, 7 p.m.: Teenage Alcohol and Drug Dependence Presentation, an informational presentation and open panel discussion and workshop conducted by Steven Chassman, director of the Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence. Joining Mr. Chassman on the panel will be school psychologists, social workers, guidance counselors and building administration.
Longwood School District
March 4, 7 -9 p.m.: drug and alcohol abuse forum featuring 20 different community organizations
Rocky Point School District
March 23 and April 19, 7 p.m.
