Column from Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay
New York state is at a public health and safety crossroads, and yet again current leadership has proven they are unable to discern the right direction. Recently, two decisions handed down from misguided liberals in New York have further put the public at risk as there appears to be no end to the ill-advised “reforms” coming out of One-Party Rule.
Shockingly, New York City has now begun offering supervised heroin injections as a way to combat opioid overdoses plaguing the city. Not only is this policy legally dubious, it is highly questionable if it’s even allowed under federal law. Several cities around the country were forced to abandon their plans in the face of legal challenges from the U.S. attorney’s office. Legal questions aside, government-sanctioned heroin use is unproven, dangerous and sends the wrong message.
Democrats in New York love to boast about being “first in the nation” when it comes to their sweeping, radical proposals. In most cases, though, the reason no one else has taken up these policies is because they simply aren’t good ideas. In this case, however, it’s reckless. Opioid addiction is a major concern in New York and across the nation, but enabling people to “safely” shoot up is no way to address this crisis. This policy represents neither treatment nor prevention. In reality, it actually runs completely counter to those goals.
What makes all of this even more confusing and difficult to comprehend is that just as New York City is opening drug injection sites, the state is closing its only drug rehab campus in the state correctional system. As of March, the Willard Drug Treatment Campus in Seneca County will be closing its doors for good. Now, more than ever, we should be looking for ways to get individuals the medical care needed to combat opioid addiction. The Willard Drug Treatment Campus is designed for that exact purpose. Shuttering it now is going to make a dire situation even more desperate.
As with any public health crisis, science, common-sense and research are absolutely critical when crafting policy. What we are seeing here is the start of a dangerous experiment that potentially puts New York in violation of federal law and even worse, seems more like a surrender in the fight to reduce drug use. If we want to solve the opioid crisis, we are going to need to greatly improve access and investments to treatment and prevention. Unfortunately, the plan in question does neither.
If you have any questions or comments on this or any other state issue, or if you would like to be added to my mailing list or receive my newsletter, please contact my office. My office can be reached by mail at 19 Canalview Mall, Fulton, NY 13069 and by email at [email protected]. You may also find me, Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay, on Facebook or on Twitter at @WillABarclay.
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Just think while the 18-20 year olds are out delivering freight with their new CDLA license.Wow,Wow,Wowie NY.
As always, the NIMBY author offers nothing better and cites no studies to back up their “sky is falling” rhetoric. In fact, most European and Canadian sites have had ZERO overdose deaths, provides a method to contact addicts, cleans up the drug related litter, lessens communicable diseases associated with dirty needles, and provides a ways for users to get treatment for AIDS and hepatitis., and connects them with housing and other services. The sites save lives. What is the author doing to save lives? Getting brother $200,000 in funding to sell top-o-the-line fishing rods in Pulaski!
Meanwhile, here in the US, parents are buying Sig Sauers on Black Friday that they leave in an unlocked drawer so the kid can practice with and then use to go kill innocents in school. #notmyrepresentative #ashamedindistrict120
“….. we are going to need to greatly improve access and investments to treatment and prevention….”
IN REAL LIFE, the sites do exactly that. It removes the anonymity of the addicts; gives them a face and puts them directly in line for services that the author phantasmagorically dismisses as “liberal democrats” one party rule. Shame on the author to politicize addiction treatment and further shove what is a “human” problem underground more than it is already and thereby make the problem worse.
As usual, he offers nothing other than vague statements but includes his usual deviciviness to congur up votes from his base. Heaven forbid he venture into the realm of Bad-bad-socialism and make any offerings that could fix a huge problem, less his constituents get any idea he’s kowtowing towards the left. Instead he says “If we want to solve the opioid crisis, we are going to need to greatly improve access and investments to treatment and prevention. Unfortunately, the plan in question does neither.” Well, DUH!! NOR WAS IT INTENDED TO. THE INTENT IS TO SAVE LIVES BY PUTTING THOSE SHOOTING UP WITH A SAFE PLACE TO DO IT, PERIOD!! NARCAN IS ON SITE! SPECIALISTS FAMILIAR WITH THE ADDICT AND THEIR DOSING IS ON SITE! CLEAN, UN-USED NEEDLES ARE ON SITE AND ARE DISPOSED OF ON SITE!
And as a side benefit it humanizes them so that THEN, they can get treatment rather than being an anonymous soul far from clinics, specialists and services to treat them. ADDICTION IS NOT A POLICING PROBLEM; IT IS A MEDICAL PROBLEM.
#notmyrepresentive #ashamedinassemblydistrict120
Whoa…a disaster “waiting” to happen? Where have you been? This epidemic of addiction is the disaster!
….and on a more relevant note…..the $600,000 Sandy Pond Barrier Bar Project is complete. Thank a Democrat.
That’s WB’s Modus Operandi when communicating with his base. Stoop to the lowest level possible and then enflame