Assembly Will Barclay

According to the American Heart Association, heart disease – also called cardiovascular disease and coronary heart disease – is a simple term used to describe several problems related to plaque buildup in the walls of the arteries, or atherosclerosis.

I wanted to take some time this week to update you on a few new health-related laws that passed during session and were recently signed into law by the Governor.  I was pleased to support all of these in the Legislature during session that will work toward better breast cancer detection, fighting crime, and improving New York’s organ donation rates.

Late last year, I introduced legislation to ban synthetic drugs from our state after many local people were reportedly ending up in the emergency room as a result of synthetic drug use.

With August upon us, farmers’ markets and local produce stands are displaying a bountiful harvest.  From flowers, to peaches, to honey and all the makings for a great salad, the markets have something to offer us all.

I recently had the opportunity to meet with health professionals who work to prevent cancer and help detect the disease in its early stages.  I wanted to draw attention to a great program they manage that screens participants for breast, cervical, prostate and colorectal cancer for free.

There are nice commercials running on the airways and television stations with a catchy, popular song, and the state has revamped its websites and adjusted its image to be one that is inviting to business. These are good first steps toward promoting our state and attracting businesses, but we need to create policies that actually encourage investment.

Our state touts a new mantra and website: NY Open for Business.  While this is true in many ways, we can stand to improve just how open for business we are to both existing and new businesses.

A study out last week reports that prescription drug abuse is on the rise. Thankfully this session we passed the I-STOP bill. This legislation creates the Internet System for Tracking Overprescribing (I-STOP) program. This is a “real-time” registry for doctors and pharmacists to track prescriptions.

It’s hard to believe the 2012 legislative session has already come to a close. Since passing an early budget in March, my colleagues and I took action to improve the quality of life for all our communities through many different pieces of legislation.