FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM MAY 3, 2018 • THE QUEENS COURIER 33
oped
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.
letters & comments
Let’s Save A Life: Battling
The Deadly Opioid Crisis
BY STATE SENATOR JOE ADDABBO
Th ere is an epidemic gripping our nation that is killing
tens of thousands of Americans every year. Th at 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.
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
benefi ts 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.
Th e Senate also secured $247 million in funding in the
2018-2019 budget to combat the 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.
WINNING THE GOLD
FOR DOUBLETALK
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
A LOOK BACK
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.
Th e 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.
FEELING LIKE A
STRANGER
America is not just a place but an
idea, an ideal and a way of life. It is
a place where immigrants did not
renounce their heritage but celebrated
and shared their diverse cultures,
protected by the Constitution
and inspired by the American
ideal of “life, liberty and the pursuit
of happiness.” Th is goal and
a common language defi ned the
American character and linked our
diverse cultures.
Th e idea that is America, its goodwill
and benevolence has attracted
countless thousands of refugees
and has become a kind of “soup
kitchen” for the world. Increased
calls for a borderless world, the rise
of sanctuary cities and an obsession
for diversity is redefi ning what it
means to be an American. In many
neighborhoods, storefronts, signs
and ads are now in a language other
than English.
My perception is that some of its
inhabitants reject the ideals, customs
and traditions we have come
to identify as American and which
I have come to cherish.
It is ironic that I am able to communicate
more easily, read more
signs, posters and advertisements
in my ancestral homeland than in
the beloved land of my birth. Must
I emigrate to “somewhere else” to
be fi nally recognized and accepted
simply as an American?
Ed Konecnik, Flushing
Editor’s note: From the start of
this republic, the United States of
America has not had an offi cial language,
although such a topic has
been frequently debated through the
decades. Th ose who live and work
here to make a better life for themselves,
their families and their neighbors
can communicate in whatever
language in which they feel comfortable.
In New York City alone,
more than 100 diff erent languages
are spoken. Th at freedom of communication,
in and of itself, stands out
as an American ideal. It is sad that
some cannot understand or comprehend
such diff erence in a positive
light. — Robert Pozarycki, editor
in-chief
Email your letters to editorial@
qns.com (Subject: Letter to the
Editor) or leave a comment to any
of our stories at QNS.com. You can
also send a letter by regular mail
to Letters to the Editor, 38-15 Bell
Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361. All letters
are subject to editing. Names will be
withheld upon request, but anonymous
letters will not be considered
for publication. Th e views expressed
in all letters and comments are not
necessarily those of this publication
or its staff .
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