Pubdate: Fri, 31 Jul 2009
Source: New York Times (NY)
Page: A22
Copyright: 2009 The New York Times Company
Contact:  http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?132 (Heroin Overdose)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?140 (Rockefeller Drug Laws)

HEROIN ON LONG ISLAND

Heroin is back on Long Island, and it is killing people at a record 
pace. There were 46 heroin deaths last year in Nassau County and 50 
in Suffolk. The related damage from the epidemic -- in overdoses, 
drug arrests, calls to addiction hotlines -- is also up drastically, 
officials in both counties report.

What has not increased yet, thankfully, is the panic that drove 
political leaders during the 1970s heroin crisis to employ the 
self-defeating enforcement remedies that exemplified the failures of 
the war on drugs. The Rockefeller drug laws sent a generation of 
nonviolent offenders away for life, creating a lasting injustice 
while doing little to solve the problem on the ground.

We hope this time will be different. This week, the Nassau County 
executive, Tom Suozzi, convened a summit on the heroin crisis. The 
district attorney, representatives of federal and local law 
enforcement, school and social service officials and medical 
professionals were on hand to offer expertise and guidance. It's to 
Mr. Suozzi's credit that the focus, was not just on high-profile 
raids and gang crackdowns, but also on treatment, prevention, 
education and tough community-based policing. Those offer the best 
chance of limiting and undoing the epidemic's damage.

The heroin being sold on Long Island is deadlier and cheaper than 
ever. A bag on the street costs about $6 or $7, less than a pack of 
cigarettes. What makes the situation even more dangerous is the 
misconception among users that snorting or sniffing heroin, rather 
than injecting it, will not lead to addiction.

The means to easing this crisis are known. What's needed is the will 
to carry them out, and the money. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake