Elected Officials, Community Organizations Vow to Tackle Opioid Crisis
By Jason Siegel

HEMPSTEAD, NY.- As voters head to the polls on Nov. 5, elected officials and community organizations consider how to handle the opioid crisis, which has claimed 3,685 lives in Nassau and Suffolk Counties from 2010 to 2018, according to officials.
Nassau County 18th District Legislator Josh Lafazan has introduced two bills meant to address the opioid crisis that were passed into law, in part because he has been personally impacted by the opioid crisis.
“At 25 (years old), I’ve lost four friends to (addiction),” Lafazan said. “I’m tired of going to funerals.”
One of Lafazan’s bills, known as Timothy’s Law, established a 24-hour substance abuse hotline. The other bill developed Nassau CARES, a mobile app that helps users find the nearest treatment center.
“We’re fighting a 21st century scourge with 18th century technology,” Lafazan said. “Resources are only good if people know they’re available.”
Lafazan added that the Nassau CARES app is “going to be a game-changer.”

Government can’t do it alone
There are other organizations outside the local government that are working to combat the opioid crisis. One of the groups, the Hempstead Prevention Coalition, was formed in September. It is run by the Family and Children’s Organization, a nonprofit that provides addiction treatment and prevention services.
Thurston O’Neal, the president of the Hempstead Prevention Coalition, said part of the problem is that prescription drugs are easy to obtain.
“(Prescription drugs) can be found in your home,” O’Neal said. “It’s as easy as opening up the medicine cabinet and getting it.”
Tina Shufford, the CEO of All The Way 100 Percent Inc, a Hempstead-based community organization, agreed that it should be harder for people to obtain opioids.
“There’s a lot of access through our doctors,” Shufford said. “People that have pain medicines, they just go to get a prescription of a drug.”
There has been some progress made in Nassau County. In 2018, 147 people died from an overdose, down from the 184 reported deaths in 2017, according to Newsday.
O’Neal said he believes that the opioid crisis needs to be dealt with on a local level.
“What may work in a town on the north shore may not work in the Village of Hempstead,” O’Neal said. “(We have) to look at our problems, to look at what our citizens need, because it may not be the same.”
Lafazan, who is running for reelection, said the Nassau County legislature is working on multiple bills to address the opioid crisis.
Lafazan said he could not discuss specifics of bills that the county legislature is working on, but said the county government needs to make it easier for people to access treatment.
“It is much easier in 2019 to get heroin as opposed to getting help,” Lafazan said. “Until it is easier to get help than it is to get heroin, we’re not going to make as much progress as we can in this fight.”
Hear more from President O’Neal and Legislator Lafazan here.
