New York State Senate Takes on The Heroin Crisis

First Hearing on Long Island

Maureen Rossi

Earlier this month Senate Majority Coalition Co-Leaders Dean Skelos and Jeffrey Klein  announced the creation of the Senate Task Force on Heroin and Opioid Addiction.  Stakeholders on Long Island welcome the new Task Force as they have been grappling with an epidemic for a decade.  The purpose of the newly formed group is to: a) examine the rise in heroin and Opioid use and b) to come up with recommendations for treating and preventing addiction.   

CRITICAL INSURANCE BILL SITS IN ALBANY

There is a bill sitting up in Albany that would rectify a major problem that addicts deal with when they want to get sober; obstacles to treatment.  Kim Revere is president of Kings Park in the kNOw, a small non-profit organization that has been working for eight years to shine a light on and eradicate the youth heroin and opiate epidemic in Suffolk County.   “S4623 would require health insurance companies to cover drug and alcohol abuse and dependency treatment services,” she explained.  

Acording to Ms. Revere, the way insurance companies work now is insurance executives decide what aspects of treatment they will  approve.  Treatment could be a short-term detoxification program, a standard 28 day inpatient program or intensive out-patient where the addict goes several times a week a few hours a day.  “When this bill gets passed, and it will; the treatment will be provided on the terms of medical necessity as determined by a doctor or trained addiction specialist,” she explained.   She says it will take the decision making out of the hands of the wealthy executives and put it into the hands of trained medical professionals.    She said she, members of the addiction and prevention community and parents of deceased children were told by Senator John Flanagan (R, Smithtown), when they visited him in his Albany office, that he believes this bill is very important.  Senator Flanagan was part of the panel last week at Suffolk County Community College and participated in a short documentary about the epidemic with Kings Park in the kNOw five years back.

THE ABSOLUTE TRUTH 

Dr. Jeffrey Reynolds is the Director for the Long Island Coalition for Alcohol and Drug Dependency (LICADD).  He is a respected, vocal member of the movement, a resident of Smithtown and a panelist at last weeks meeting.  He is disgusted that so many Insurance companies are denying treatment.  He says he deals with it daily.   “If it were any other disease – insurance companies would not get away with this,” he said.  His comment was met with vigorous applause. 

Desperate parents have been told their son or daughter isn’t high enough for a detoxification program.  Some have been told their child is not using enough heroin to garner in-patient treatment.   Far too many addicts have been told after overdosing that they must first fail at out-patient before they can receive inpatienttreatment.  What about a heroin overdose doesn’t scream failure?  Linda Ventura of Kings Park lost her son Thomas two years ago shortly before his 22^nd birthday.  She was one of dozens of stakeholders who went up to Albany in February to meet with members of the Senate to discuss the proposed legislation.  “They need to follow through with this – the Insurance bill must pass this year, kids are dying,” she lamented.

Ventura said her family suffered because of obstacles to treatment.  She was told her son wasn’t high enough for Detox, another time that he didn’t use enough heroin for inpatient, that he needed to fail at out-patient first.  She describes his addiction as an absolute HELL.  She said when addiction took over his body and mind - her boy was gone.  “He was unrecognizable,” she shared.  Thomas like so many young Long Island heroin addicts did have a very happy childhood.  He was a great athlete; he was popular and had many hobbies and interests.   After his parents divorced and the loss of his grandparents who were very dear to him, he began to smoke pot and drink beer the summer he was fifteen.   “Don’t delude yourself, if your kid is experimenting with alcohol at 13 or 14 don’t kid yourself, it will escalate, it’s not if, it’s when,” she warned.

Part II Tomorrow - Why the heroin problem is getting worse

Update on Monday, April 21, 2014 at 11:28PM by .

Part II Maureen Rossi

IS THE HEROIN PROBLEM GETTING WORSE?

Since the I-Stop legislation became law there has been an uptick in heroin use and overdoses.  Senator Kemp Hannon is the architect of the legislation that mandates a 24/7 tracking system connecting doctors and pharmacists. Hannon has called prescription drug abuse the fastest growing drug problem in New York. The goal of I-Stop is to prevent doctor shopping and to limit access and the abuse of prescription drugs.

Reynolds and others working to fight the drug scourge on Long Island say they knew the I-Stop law would put a halting stop to doctor shopping but the temporary downside would be an uptick in heroin use due to lack of pills on the street.   Experts like Seafield’s Anthony Rizzutto and LICADD’s Reynolds say they are dealing with that uptick on a daily basis.

A critical component of the Task Force is prevention. Many on the front line say it is not possible for government to legislate or arrest our way out of this epidemic.  They say we need long-term solutions including evidence-based prevention programs in class rooms  K-12.    Will Albany mandate schools to include prevention programs in the midst of the Common Core debacle; will the state provide the funding for the mandate?    One can only hope so.   Without strong consistent prevention efforts this epidemic has the potential to go on for a very long time.

TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE

Senator Phil Boyle, is the chair of the Joint Senate Task Force on Heroin and Opioid Addiction.  He was present at Suffolk County Community College for the first of a dozen hearings held around the state on April 8.  Senator Boyle and members of the NYS Senate were joined by parents, law enforcement, and experts in addiction and prevention. “The primary mission here is to save lives,” said Boyle. 

Everyone agrees that time is of the essence and that the clock is ticking for addicts and families of addicts.  It is also ticking for those on the panel as a detailed report is due in Albany by June first.   Time is an enemy to New York State residents waiting for the Insurance Bill to pass.  Most realize it will be fought by very wealthy savvy Insurance lobbyists and that it could take longer than anyone wants to wait.  

Stakeholders wonder how many more young people on Long Island will die because of obstacles to treatment?  How many innocent people will die in vehicular accidents at the hands addicts?  How many more pharmacies will be robbed?  How many more crimes will be committed?  How many more families will hear the worst news they could ever possibly hear, that their child is gone?

Tomorrow Part III

Update on Tuesday, April 22, 2014 at 11:33PM by .

Part III - The Speakers

by Maureen Rossi

Last week’s proposed state budget included $5 million for increased heroin prevention, treatment and recovery support services.   

Senator Hannon is well known as a strong advocate for finding solutions to the drug problem. He has called drug addiction a major public health crisis. He was credited by Moderator Jack Martins with being the architect of both the I-Stop bill and the Insurance Bill presently sitting in Albany.  That pronouncement was met with hearty applause by law-makers and all present at the hearing. Hannon is working to find ensure that treatment decisions are made by doctors.

The audience clearly understood the importance of the Insurance Bill. Panelist and addiction expert Richard Buckman said he had the opportunity to go to inpatient rehab for 28 days back in 1988.  “I know I would not be clean and sober if I did not have that opportunity,” he shared.   He also says the Insurance Bill is critical.

A young well dressed twenty-six year old Long Island woman took the podium she articulated beautifully and told the harrowing story of her life with alcohol and drugs.  Like so many young heroin addicts today, she did not look like a junkie.   Unfortunately, her story is not unique; due to her addiction she has robbed people, spent time in jail and buried many friends who shared the disease of addiction.  She is one of the lucky Long Islanders who have been down the Opioid Heroin path – today she is sober.  

Arthur and Denise Murr’s son Matt was their only child.  They spoke candidly about his addiction and his death.   “He knew what he was doing was wrong, he was ashamed and embarrassed,” said his father.   Denise Murr spoke about Matt saying that at the age of fifteen, doctors put him on Aderral for attention problems.  “It was the first drug he took and he later abused,” she added.  Matt completed only one semester of college before his addiction became too much to bear.  In the course of seven long grueling years for the Murr’s, Matt was in and out of many rehabs.  The Murr’s said they could never understand why their son became addicted to heroin.  Theirs was a very happy loving home; they were your average Long Island family.  In between soft tears, the Murr’s spoke extensively about the stigma and shame of having a child who was addicted to heroin.

Jason took the podium after the Murr’s, he told the attentive audience that he grew up with a mom who loved him more than anything.  The sober twenty-something said he identified with the type of upbringing Matt’s parents spoke about.  He played sports and said his childhood was normal.  “However, I always felt like I had a pebble in my shoe, when I got high that feeling went away and I continued to look for that feeling for years by getting drunk and high,” he added.  Jason said his best friend died of an overdose at seventeen and that was the first time he tried heroin.  “I had someone boot it (shoot) into me,” he continued.   He added that he always had that nagging feeling he was going to die with a needle in his arm.   He said he has been in homeless shelters, jails, rehabs, and psych wards.  Sadly he shared that because of the epidemic here on Long Island he has gone to over one hundred wakes in his short life.  Today Jason is sober and he is living proof that treatment works.

Tomorrow Part IV

Update on Wednesday, April 23, 2014 at 10:11PM by .

LONG ISLAND – A MAJOR EPICENTER

“This is the first of twelve forums holding around the state, it’s (Long Island) one of the epicenters and we need to put a stop to that,” said Senator Boyle.   Buckman shared that sadly in the thirty-four year history of his organization the largest increase has occurred recently and has been for those in the 13-17 year old category for treatment of Opioid abuse.   Users are getting younger and younger.   At present there is no end in sight for this epidemic.

How big is the pill problem overall in New York State?   “In 2010 we wrote 21 million scripts annually and we only have 19 million people,” said Senator Hannon.  At this point in time it is safe to say that most New York State residents know someone with or who has had a Opioid pill problem. 

Suffolk County Legislators John Kennedy and Tom Cilmi were also present at last week’s Senate hearing.  They are both members of the new Suffolk County Legislature’s Mental Health & Substance Abuse Task Force, which will be convening officially on May 14^th.  “What I hear and saw was phenomenal – the level of attention and will was critical and it’s welcome,” said Kennedy.   Kennedy has been dealing with the Long Island epidemic for a decade.  He has worked with families, law enforcement and community groups like Kings Park in the kNOw.  He says the help of the state is welcomed and needed.  “Hats off to Boyle and the whole team, I look forward to the report and implementation of the various treatment solutions and prevention solutions,” he added.     At present Cilmi and Kennedy are gathering families of the addicted, families of the lost and other stakeholders for the kick-off of their County Task Force.   While these panels convene and share their expertise, young Long Islanders will continue to die quietly, on their tree-lined streets in the backdrop of their well-forming school districts.    The time for a solution is now.