20 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • OCTOBER 2018
POINT OF VIEW
OPIOID EPIDEMIC:
FIGHTING BACK
TOGETHER
By STEVE BELLONE
Suffolk County Executive
October is National Substance
Abuse Prevention Month, a time
to acknowledge and confront the
enormity of the substance abuse
issue and its impact on the lives of
the people living here in Suffolk
County, and continue the hard work
of prevention.
Addiction can destroy lives and
it does not discriminate. Substance
“Substance abuse can be prevented.”
abuse and dependence wreak havoc
on families everywhere — and Suffolk
is no exception.
The good news is that substance
abuse can be prevented and that
addiction is treatable. In Suffolk,
we understand that neither of these
comes easily.
Substance abuse problems include
both alcohol and drugs. It can be an
expensive problem from a county
perspective, in terms of law enforcement,
rehabilitation, legal fees,
health care and more. But in personal
terms, substance abuse can be far
more costly.
This is why Suffolk is so deeply
committed to doing everything we
possibly can to prevent substance
abuse. The county is leading New
York State in a landmark lawsuit
against Purdue Pharma, the manufacturer
of OxyContin. Suffolk
hopes to not only recoup funds spent
addressing the wreckage caused by
the opioid epidemic, but to actually
curtail its influence by targeting
Purdue Pharma’s misleading marketing
practices.
The county Department of Health
Services has put together a comprehensive
approach to combating
substance abuse from myriad
angles centered on education, including
programs targeted to the
public, in schools, in correctional
facilities and for both residents and
physicians.
In addition, Suffolk has implemented
workshops designed to
train residents in using Narcan™
(naloxone, an opiate antidote) to
prevent opioid overdoses. Since
the inception of the county’s Opioid
Overdose Prevention Program in
2013, the health department has
trained 11,256 nontraditional responders,
each of whom received a
Narcan™ kit. Residents on the scene
of an overdose become equipped
to act as first responders, with the
capability to save lives.
Suffolk’s upcoming DASH program,
a Diagnostic, Assessment &
Stabilization Hub to be operated by
Family Service League, will open
this December to provide licensed
and credentialed professional care
24/7 for individuals suffering from
mental health and substance abuse
disorders.
We have enacted a multitude
of strategies to combat substance
abuse, including public service announcements
and partnering with
the Long Island Council on Alcohol
and Drug Dependence (LICADD) to
operate a 24/7 hotline to link callers
to appropriate treatment.
We have a lot of work to do to prevent
substance abuse and addiction.
In Suffolk, we’re committing to this
work together.
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