WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES MAY 3, 2018 13
LETTERS OP-ED
WINNING THE
GOLD FOR
DOUBLE-TALK
If there were an Olympics
for politicians, Mayor
de Blasio would win a gold
medal for speaking out of
both sides of his mouth,
saying on the one hand
there is a “hyper-complaint
dynamic” in the Department
of Education and on
the other that every single
person who comes forward
with a sexual harassment
complaint deserves to be
believed.
Not surprising coming
from a mayor who casts
himself as a national
spokesperson for progressive
Democrats, yet
seeks to extract a pound of
fl esh from city workers in
exchange for paid parental
leave. Robert Berger, Bellerose
GIVE
THE GIFT
OF LIFE
Would you like to save
three lives? Giving one pint
of blood does just that, as
those who donate blood help
up to three people, including
patients who undergo organ
transplants or heart surgery.
Today’s advanced care
relies on blood transfusions.
When one person donates
a unit of blood, it can be
separated into individual
components to save multiple
lives.
Blood donors help meet
daily transfusion needs of
cancer and surgery patients,
accident and burn victims,
newborns and mothers delivering
babies, AIDS and
sickle cell anemia patients
and many more. Did you
know that our local hospitals
need 2,000 pints a day?
I’m grand knight of St.
Anastasia Knights of Columbus
Council #5911. As
chairman of our annual
blood drive along with my
co-chairman Giuseppe
Petruso and with Boy Scout
Troop 153 we run two blood
drives a year at St. Anastasia
Parish in Douglaston
with permission from Msgr.
Sherman.
Our next blood drive is
on Sunday, June 3. It runs
from 8:45 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at
St. Anastasia Parish, located
in Father Smith Hall at 245-
14 245th St. in Douglaston.
The need for blood is constant.
You never know when
someone you know needs
blood, or even yourself. So
if you can, please give the
gift of life.
Frederick R. Bedell Jr.,
Glen Oaks Village
Editor’s note: If you can’t
make it to Douglaston on
June 3, the New York Blood
Center holds drives across
the city. Visit nybloodcenter.
org to learn how you can
donate.
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LET’S SAVE A LIFE: BATTLING THE DEADLY OPIOID CRISIS
Now drug dealers are lacing
heroin with the deadly synthetic
opioid fentanyl, which
can kill a person in extremely
small doses. Pharmaceutical
fentanyl is commonly prescribed
to manage pain for
advanced-stage cancer patients,
but drug dealers create and use
it to boost their profi ts.
So the question remains, what
can we do to stop this epidemic
from claiming more lives?
Currently, New York state
has already implemented
opioid prescribing guidelines
for physicians. As of July 22,
2016, a practitioner may not
initially prescribe more than
a seven-day supply of an opioid
medication for acute pain.
Pharmaceutical companies
are also doing their part in
battling this epidemic by developing
new classes of painkillers
that purportedly would be
non-addictive, lessening the
use of addictive opioids.
As the country’s perception
on marijuana’s medicinal
benefits continues to evolve,
medical cannabis is being
prescribed to combat chronic
pain and studies are beginning
to show a drop in opioid use in
states where marijuana is legal
medicinally or recreationally.
However, I believe we need to
explore an expanded array of
solutions to the opioid problem.
The Senate also secured
$247 million in funding in the
2018-2019 budget to combat the
This closeup shows the entire plaque
on the Glendale Veterans Memorial
erected at the corner of Myrtle and
Cooper avenues in Glendale. The
memorial sits at the Glendale Veterans
Triangle, which was renovated recently
to include a new public plaza. It is
the alternating starting and closing
points of the Ridgewood-Glendale
Memorial Day Parade which the Allied
Veterans Committee of Ridgewood
and Glendale holds every year to
honor those soldiers who gave their
lives in defense of the nation. Send
us your historic photos of Queens
by email to editorial@qns.com
(subject: A Look Back) or mail printed
pictures to A Look Back, ℅ Schneps
Communications, 38-15 Bell Blvd.,
Bayside, NY 11361. All mailed pictures
will be carefully returned to you.
BY STATE SENATOR
JOE ADDABBO
There is an epidemic gripping
our nation that is
killing tens of thousands
of Americans every year. That
epidemic is the current opioid
crisis that is aff ecting all parts of
the United States, and our local
communities are not immune
from its deadly consequences.
More and more Americans
fall victim to this crisis each
day, younger residents through
older adults, with more than 2.1
million people suff ering from an
opioid use disorder in 2017, according
to the Substance Abuse
and Mental Health Services
Administration (SAMHSA).
According to the New York
State Department of Health, in
Queens County, there were 318
opioid overdoses per 100,000
residents in 2016, with heroin
overdoses accounting for 185 of
those deaths per 100,000 people.
In many cases, addiction
to opioids starts innocently
enough: a licensed physician
legally prescribes someone
opioid pain medications — such
as Vicodin or OxyContin. As the
person continues to take the
medication, they can become
addicted. Once their prescription
runs out, many times they
look to the streets for their fi x
and purchase heroin, which
gives a stronger high than
opioid medications, is much
cheaper… but deadlier.
A LOOK BACK
AND COMMENTS
Photo via Ridgewood Times archives/Courtesy of the Greater Ridgewood Historical Society
opioid epidemic. $10.6 million
of that money will go to support
services including more residential
treatment beds, a new
Recovery and Community Outreach
Center, and an Adolescent
Clubhouse program to provide
peer support activities. Funding
is also provided for events that
help maintain a sober and substance
free lifestyle, with $3.8
million for the development and
implementation of substance use
disorder treatment in local jails.
I have also co-sponsored bills
that are on the Senate fl oor including
bill S.2351, which looks
to create and fund a public
awareness and educational program
on the dangers and costs
of heroin use; and bill S.6035,
which aims to require that a
person’s death certifi cate must
include the specifi c opioid that
caused the death when a person
dies from an opioid overdose.
Observing someone’s change
in behavior or personality, may
lead to a discussion about addiction
and ultimately the need to
seek further help.
Even with all of this new funding
and legislative action, there
is still more work to be done
to fi ght this crisis. By working
together and becoming aware
of the opioid crisis, we can save
someone from its addiction and
possibly from death.
Addabbo represents the 15th
Senatorial District covering
much of southwestern Queens
and the Rockaways.
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