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QUEENS WEEKLY, MAY 26, 2019
BY MARK HALLUM
Queens State Senator
Joe Addabbo is taking
a stab at making a
seemingly innocent
party appliance
available only to people
21 and over as teenagers
increasingly reported
using nitrous oxide to
for its mind-altering
effects rather than to fill
party balloons.
Commonly known as
“whippets,” Addabbo
cited constituent
complaints as the reason
for the legislation,
claiming canisters
have begun to litter
his district.
“They have also
become a means of
recreational drug use,
particularly among
younger New Yorkers, that
can lead to debilitating
health threats,” Addabbo
said. “By limiting
the purchase of these
canisters to those over 21,
and particularly to those
who have a legitimate
purpose for buying them,
we can help protect our
children from their
intoxicating effects.”
According to a 2016
study by the National
Survey on Drug Use and
Health, 9.1 percent of
Americans have tried
inhalants with whippets
available online or
at stores to buyers of
all ages.
Addabbo’s legislation
would impose civil fines
of up to $250 for retailers
who sell to minors as a
first offense and $500 per
transgression after that.
Associated with a
number of conditions
aff licting the nervous
system, brain and
internal organs,
huffing nitrous oxide
is mainly associated
with seizures, comas,
severe frostbite and
sudden sniffing
death syndrome.
As the bill goes under
review by the Committee
on Consumer Protection,
the Assembly version
of the legislation is
also going through the
same process.
“These piles of
used whippets in
our communities are
not only an eye sore,
but may indicate a
significant problem with
nitrous oxide abuse,”
Addabbo said.
Reach reporter
Mark Hallum by
email at mhallum@
schnepsmedia.com or by
phone at (718) 260–4564.
State Senator Joseph Addabbo at a February 2018 press
conference. Photo: Mark Hallum/QNS
Fighting the measles virus
Forest Hills Hospital prepared to battle any outbreak
BY BILL PARRY
Queens could be the
next measles hot zone and
one hospital is already
practicing protocols
learned during the
Ebola crisis.
LIJ Forest Hills has
begun screening before
they are allowed to enter
the building after a
new study showed that
Queens county is ranked
fourth in the country for
a likely outbreak of the
measles virus.
“Here in Queens, we
meet all four criteria,”
Dr. Teresa Amato, chair
of emergency medicine at
LIJ Forest Hills said. “We
have a dense population,
and two airports where
people are coming in from
high incident areas. We’re
also an area with a high
number of unvaccinated
people and we’re a hot
spot next to a hot spot in
Brooklyn.”
The authors of The
Lancet Infectious Diseases
warned that hot spots
“could serve as a fulcrum of
continuous importation of
the measles virus into the
USA.” This year, the United
States has seen the highest
number of confirmed cases
since measles was declared
eliminated in the country
in 2000.
“If you had told me
when I got into the health
care business that we
would be facing a measles
outbreak in 2019, I would
have been shocked,” Amato
said. “All of Northwell
Health is screening people
before entering. We ask if
they have a cough, fever
or rash. If they say yes,
we ask if they have been
vaccinated and have they
been exposed. If they have,
they are put into isolation
because it is so highly
contagious. The virus
can live in the air for up
to 2 hours.”
The Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention
says the measles virus
is so contagious that it
one person has it, up to
A 3-D illustration of the Measles virus Photo via Getty Images
90 percent of the people
around him or her will
become infected if they are
not protected.
Last week, the city’s
Department of Health
closed down The Yeshiva
of Central Queens in
Kew Gardens Hills for
non-compliance of the
citywide order aimed
at curbing the ongoing
measles outbreak.
The school’s attorney
Jonathan Farrell said in a
statement that the “audit of
the yeshiva was triggered
by a single individual,
who is an outside vendor
of the yeshiva who was
present on yeshiva’s
premises after apparently
being exposed to the
measles virus.”
The Yeshiva of Central
Queens was cleared to
reopen Monday, according
to the Health Department.
Measles starts with a
high fever and soon after,
it causes a cough, runny
nose and red eyes then a
rash of tiny spots breaks
out, according to the CDC.
It starts in the head and
spreads to the rest of the
body and it could lead to
pneumonia, encephalitis
and death.
“If you’re exposed and
unvaccinated you’re likely
to get it,” Amato said.
She said there has
been a rise in recent
years of people who aren’t
vaccinated because of
non-medical reasons in
the United States.
“There was a widely
circulated study that
linked vaccinations to
autism that has been
debunked several times,”
Amato said. “Therefore
we’re seeing diseases
return after we thought
they were gone, like
measles. Viruses are
very smart. They want
to live.”
Reach reporter Bill
Parry by email at bparry@
schnepsmedia.com or by
phone at (718) 260–4538.
Addabbo pushes
for ‘whippet’ laws
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