Having just read about I-STOP/PMP (Internet System for Tracking Over-Prescribing/Prescription Monitoring Program) in New York State, I thought I would share my view on the very similar system we have in Ontario called the Ontario Narcotics Control Act. This act was implemented sneakily by our provincial government, and has made many people's lives much more difficult than need be. I don't deny that there are those who abuse certain prescription drugs, and they will always be with us no matter how many bills are passed, but the government is now treating pretty much everyone as an addict through this act, and getting and renewing certain opiate painkillers has become an odyssey. If one wishes to go on vacation for a few weeks, getting the required amount of meds can be likened to going through the inquisition. [continues 100 words]
THE Huffington Post, through its widely viewed video service HuffPost Live, is promoting recreational use of marijuana as well as even more troubling nonsense about the medicinal value of hard drugs like ecstasy, acid and other Schedule I substances. When Miley Cyrus smoked a joint on stage at the European Music Awards and at the Art Basel Miami Beach festival, most saw it as reflecting the ills of celebrity culture. But the danger of public acceptance and misuse is much greater when a significant media outlet promotes illicit drugs. [continues 644 words]
New York officials on Thursday proposed regulations for a medical marijuana program expected to start in 2016. The Legislature and Gov. Andrew Cuomo authorized the program under a law signed in July. It authorizes patients with certain diseases to be able to obtain non-smokeable versions of the drug, which can be ingested or vaporized. Conditions include AIDS, Lou Gehrig's disease, Parkinson's Disease, multiple sclerosis, certain spinal cord injuries, epilepsy, inflammatory bowel disease, neuropathies and Huntington's Disease. "Our goal is to ensure that New Yorkers have access to the treatment they need through a controlled, regulated process," said Dr. Howard Zucker, acting state health commissioner. [continues 193 words]
Regarding the Dec. 7 Viewpoints cover story, when it comes to preventing drug abuse, mass incarceration is a cure worse than the disease. The drug war is not the promoter of family values some would have us believe. Children of inmates are at risk of educational failure, joblessness, addiction and delinquency. Not only do the children lose out, but society as a whole does, too. Incarcerating nonviolent drug offenders alongside hardened criminals is the equivalent of providing them with a taxpayer-funded education in criminal behavior. Prisons transmit violent habits rather than reduce them. Nonviolent drug offenders are eventually released, with dismal job prospects because of criminal records. [continues 71 words]
Yes, you can toke up legally in New York in 2015: That is if the new bill passes. State Senator Liz Krueger will reintroduse a bill known as the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act in 2015. If passed, this will make it legal in New York State to possess up to two ounces of pot and you can buy it at the state liquor store. You will be able to grow six pot plants for personal use. Known as "recreational marijuana" as opposed to medical marijuana, which is already legal, the pot sales will be taxed with the money going into the New York State coffers. [continues 137 words]
U.S. Policy Change Raises Possibility of Legalization The U.S. Justice Department last week said it no longer intends to prosecute federal laws regulating the growing or selling of marijuana on Indian reservations, as long as tribes take steps to control marijuana sales. That memo has left many Indian tribes the Seneca Nation among them wondering if they will be allowed someday to legally grow and sell marijuana on their reservations . It is too early to tell whether the Senecas or any other tribe in New York State will be allowed to start legal marijuana businesses, said Martin E. Seneca Jr., chief counsel for the Seneca Nation. [continues 770 words]
U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., might as well call for a $100 million crime wave. That will be the effect of his "heroin surge." Attempts to limit the supply of illegal drugs while demand remains constant only increases the profitability of drug trafficking. For addictive drugs like heroin, a spike in street prices leads desperate addicts to increase criminal activity to feed desperate habits. The drug war doesn't fight crime; it fuels crime. Schumer needs to think outside of the drug war box if he is serious about reducing overdose deaths. New research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that states with open medical marijuana access have a 25 percent lower opioid overdose death rate than marijuana prohibition states. This research finding has huge implications for states like New York that are grappling with prescription narcotic and heroin overdose deaths. The phrase "if it saves one life" has been used to justify all manner of drug war abuses. Legal marijuana access has the potential to save thousands of lives. Robert Sharpe Policy analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy www.csdp.org [end]
A bold stride in the popular campaign to legalize marijuana - an amendment blocking federal interference with states that allow medical marijuana - has been written into the bipartisan budget spending bill that's now being rushed through Congress. At the same time, this clear victory for the pro-marijuana movement nationally has been coupled with Congress's outrageous rebuff of the will of District of Columbia residents, who voted overwhelmingly last month to join the growing state move to legalize small amounts of recreational marijuana. [continues 267 words]
The Moral and Political Case for Reforming the Criminal Justice System There isn't much room for optimism among progressives these days. President Obama's avenues to legislative achievement in his final two years are narrow and seem mostly to lead to the right toward a corporate tax reform in one instance, and a NAFTA-style trade deal with the Asia-Pacific region in another. But in these dark days, there is, as we are already witnessing, reason for hope in the form of last month's landmark climate change deal with China and Obama's executive action on immigration. And today, increasingly, there are signs that the United States could make greater strides on criminal justice reform than at any time in a generation or more. [continues 815 words]
A retired Buffalo police officer has started an online business that sells hundreds of products made from hemp. A truck driver is thinking about getting into the marijuana industry once he gets too old to stay on the road. And a former cosmetics and fashion executive wants to offer advice to companies making pot-infused skin care and beauty products, or develop the items herself. With more states legalizing marijuana for medical and recreational purposes, more people are looking for a way into the marijuana industry. "I want to be the East Coast's largest retailer of hemp products," said Steven M. Kellerman, the retired police officer, who carries his money in a hemp wallet and raves about the durability of goods made from the plant. [continues 1077 words]
ALBANY -- U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer proposed on Monday a $100 million "heroin surge" to combat a sharp rise in heroin addiction and fatal overdoses that some public health officials have characterized as an epidemic. The proposal calls for an additional $100 million emergency appropriation to the federal High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program. The money would help battle drug trafficking and heroin production, would bolster law reinforcement efforts and coordinate intelligence-sharing and drug enforcement efforts among local, state, federal and law enforcement agencies. Schumer said the money would aim to disrupt the heroin pipeline into the Capital Region from New York City and Vermont, which comes across the border from Canada. [continues 868 words]
THIS week the New York City Police Department shifted from making arrests to issuing tickets for possessing small amounts of marijuana. The problem is that most people, frankly, do not understand how summons court, which processes such tickets, operates. A key concern is that issuing summonses for marijuana possession will result in an excessive amount of bench warrants for those who fail to appear in court, and the influx of these cases is sure to swell our already overburdened summons-court dockets. [continues 764 words]
Anthony Welfare closely followed this week's news that New York City no longer will bring criminal charges against people who are seen with small amounts of marijuana, as long as they are not smoking it in public. "I find that funny," Mr. Welfare, 28, said. But not hah-hah funny. Not LOL funny. After seven years of steady work, Mr. Welfare automatically lost his job as a school bus driver in August when a police officer swore under oath that he saw a pipe in the center console of a car in which Mr. Welfare was a passenger. The pipe had a residue of marijuana, the officer said. [continues 710 words]
YES, THE speaker of the City Council has tried pot - and she thinks we should legalize it. Council Speak er Melissa Mark-Viverito says she supports legalization of pot, a split from her ally Mayor de Blasio. "It's appropriate at this time," she said. Days after Mayor de Blasio overhauled the city's marijuana policy, Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito went further and called for outright legalization of the drug. "It's not something we can just do randomly, but with a thought process, and looking how it's being implemented in other areas. But I do support the legalization of marijuana," she said at City Hall. [continues 445 words]
OF the three jurisdictions where voters approved marijuana legalization last week, Washington, DC, is the smallest but the most symbolically potent. The prospect of legal marijuana in the nation's capital dramatically signals the ongoing collapse of the 77-year-old ban on a much-maligned plant. The passage of Initiative 71, which voters backed by a margin of more than 2 to 1, presents a challenge to the Republicans who will soon control both houses of Congress. Will they respect democracy and local control, or will they insist that Washingtonians toe a prohibitionist line that is steadily disappearing? [continues 582 words]
In late September, the New York Attorney General announced a drug bust in Syracuse resulting from a nine-month long investigation -- 34 people arrested for dealing $1 million worth of heroin and cocaine. Sounded like a big success -- but was it really? It seems more like mowing the grass. As long as there is demand, there will be supply. Taking these 34 people off the streets just means that others will take their places, and the jockeying for position usually means increased violence. The drug trade will go on, with no net effect on prices or availability. [continues 543 words]
To the Editor: Re "Concerns in Criminal Justice System as City Eases Policy on Marijuana Arrests" (news article, Nov. 11): Whatever the results of the new marijuana policing policies outlined in the article, the real issue is selective enforcement. "Stop and frisk" or "broken windows" programs that target those with darker skin color will always have the same results. I suspect that if the police were to conduct marijuana sweeps of college campuses with predominantly white students, they would probably have even higher arrest statistics than they do at present. Why is it that young black and brown men are seen by the police to break the most windows, or need to be most frequently stopped, frisked and arrested on charges of marijuana possession? Brooklyn, Nov. 11, 2014 [end]
While running for office, Bill de Blasio promised that as mayor he would amend the practice of singling out young black and Latino men for unfair and, in some cases, illegal arrests for possessing minuscule amounts of marijuana. Though the charges are often dismissed, the arrests can cost people their jobs and access to housing or the prospect of joining the armed forces. Mayor de Blasio tackled part of this problem on Monday when he announced a new policy under which people found with tiny amounts of marijuana would typically be issued a ticket akin to a traffic summons, instead of being arrested and charged with a crime. [continues 445 words]
Mayor Bill de Blasio, who took office promising to reform the Police Department and repair relations with black and Latino communities, on Monday unveiled his plan to change the way the police enforce the law on marijuana possession. Arrests for low-level marijuana possession have had an especially harsh impact on minority communities, and under the change announced on Monday, people found with small amounts of marijuana will typically be given a ticket and cited for a violation instead of being arrested and charged with a crime. [continues 922 words]
Starting Nov. 19, a Person Carrying 25 Grams or Less Will Get a Summons. NEW YORK - Possession of 25 grams or less of marijuana no longer will be grounds for arrest in New York City under a new policy aimed at ending the lifelong stigma that can follow pot users, city officials announced Monday. The new law, which takes effect Nov. 19, marks a substantial shift in policing in the nation's largest city, where arrests for marijuana possession so far this year number more than 24,000. But both Mayor Bill de Blasio and Police Commissioner William J. Bratton said the policy change was not a sign they favored going the route of Colorado and Washington state, which have legalized some recreational marijuana use. [continues 453 words]
The New York Police Department, which has been arresting tens of thousands of people a year for low-level marijuana possession, is poised to stop making such arrests and to issue tickets instead, according to law enforcement officials. People found with small amounts of marijuana would be issued court summonses and be allowed to continue on their way without being handcuffed and taken to station houses for fingerprinting. The change would remake the way city police handle the most common drug offenses and represents Mayor Bill de Blasio's most significant effort since taking office to address the enduring effects of the department's stop-and-frisk practices. [continues 144 words]
The New York Police Department, which has been arresting tens of thousands of people a year for low-level marijuana possession, is poised to stop making such arrests and to issue tickets instead, according to law enforcement officials. People found with small amounts of marijuana would be issued court summonses and be allowed to continue on their way without being handcuffed and taken to station houses for fingerprinting. The change would remake the way the police in New York City handle the most common drug offenses and would represent Mayor Bill de Blasio's most significant effort since taking office to address the enduring effects of the department's excessive stop-and-frisk practices. [continues 1113 words]
The event's three professional presenters agreed that marijuana can have ill effects on young people. SOUTH GLENS FALLS - With marijuana now legal in several states, information and misinformation about the drug are swirling like smoke; so the Community Coalition for Family Wellness hopes to provide resources that promote safety and health, especially for youth. The school district's Oct. 29 Parent University night, called "Marijuana, What's the Big Deal?", gave families, students, faculty and community partners a look at current medical, sociological and legal aspects of cannabis use in teenagers. [continues 997 words]
NEW YORK (AP) - A woman who was in custody on a drug-related arrest died after suffering an apparent seizure while she was being processed, according to the New York Police Department. Authorities say 22-yearold Jasmine Lawrence of the Bronx had been arrested around 8 p.m. Saturday on Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn on charges of criminal sale of marijuana and unlawful possession of marijuana. She was put into a holding cell at the 79th precinct around 10 p.m. as her arrest was processed. Police said shortly before midnight she had an apparent seizure in the cell area. Emergency medical personnel arrived minutes later. She was taken to the hospital at 12:44 a.m. Sunday, and pronounced dead a short time later. The medical examiner will determine cause of death. [end]
When he ran for mayor, Bill de Blasio condemned police practices under which young black and Latino men were unfairly - sometimes illegally - charged with possessing tiny amounts of marijuana, placing them at risk of losing jobs, access to housing or eligibility for military service even though such charges are often dismissed. His promise to address this problem was supported in minority communities that bear the brunt of this destructive policy. But a new analysis of state data shows that low-level marijuana arrests during the de Blasio administration have continued at roughly the same level as under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg. That's not what the voters signed up for. [continues 489 words]
With a summons for marijuana possession to settle, Anthony was waiting outside the courthouse in Kew Gardens, Queens, when the doors opened at 9 on Tuesday morning. That summons had frozen his life since a police officer handed it to him on a Saturday evening in August. He immediately lost a job that he had held for seven years as a school bus driver. It had already cost him close to $7,000 in lost wages. For this account, Anthony, 28, asked that only his first name be used, because he has never before had any trouble with the police, and wants to go back to work. [continues 742 words]
To the Editor: Re "Mexico's Cartel Government," by Ioan Grillo (Op-Ed, Oct. 10): As a former State Department official who covered narcotics issues in Mexico from 2012 to this year, I saw "state capture" - the taking over of chunks of government apparatus, in this case, local police and municipal authorities - up close. Beyond making atrocities like the suspected massacre in Iguala possible, the buying and selling of Mexican police officers also warns us against well-intentioned but dangerous efforts to legalize the cultivation of drugs there. [continues 100 words]
NEW YORK (AP) - New York state lawmakers and advocates of medical marijuana gathered in New York City on Sunday to discuss the implementation of a new state law authorizing marijuana as a treatment for certain medical conditions. The event drew potential patients, policy makers and hundreds of people interested in working in the new medical marijuana industry. State lawmakers voted this year to make New York the 23rd state to authorize pot for patients with conditions including AIDS, cancer and epilepsy. [continues 190 words]
In a recent Viewpoints article, Kevin Sabet made some valid points about risks associated with legalizing marijuana. But his fears can be addressed. Properly tailored legalization legislation can prevent a Big Tobacco takeover of marijuana production and sales. And we can and should strictly limit advertising and implement effective measures to prevent the targeting of youth. The marijuana issue has reached a tipping point. Despite intransigence on the federal level, Colorado and Washington have legalized cannabis for recreational use by adults, and 23 states have shown compassion by enacting medical marijuana laws. [continues 324 words]
IGUALA, Mexico - STUDENT protesters in rural Mexico have long dealt with heavy-handed police officers. But on the black night of Sept. 26, students who attended a rural teachers' college realized they were facing a far worse menace in this southern city. Not only were police officers shooting haphazardly at them, killing three students and several passers-by; shady gunmen were also firing from the sidelines. The next morning, the corpse of a student was dumped on a major street. He'd had his skin peeled off and his eyes gouged out. It was the mark of drug cartel assassins. [continues 917 words]
Thirty years ago, a college kid in Kentucky was caught growing marijuana plants in his closet. That turned him into a convicted felon, and though he's been on the right side of the law ever since, he still can't vote. On any job application, he must check the box next to "Have you ever been convicted of a felony?" All this misery for growing a plant whose leaves the past three presidents admit having smoked. We know this story because Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky keeps telling it. That a Southern Republican probably running for president is condemning such prosecutions as unfair speaks volumes on the collapsing support for the war on marijuana part of the larger war on drugs. [continues 400 words]
Alaska, Oregon and the District of Columbia Should Legalize Pot The decision by California voters in 1996 to legalize medical marijuana produced a wave of similar initiatives around the country. Less than two decades later, over half the states allow at least limited medical use. Now it looks as though recreational use of the drug may follow the same path. In 2012, Washington State and Colorado legalized recreational marijuana. This November, voters in Alaska, Oregon and the District of Columbia will decide whether to do the same - effectively disregarding the misguided federal ban on a drug that is far less dangerous than alcohol. Decades of arresting people for buying, selling and using marijuana have hurt more than helped society, and minority communities have been disproportionately affected by the harsh criminal penalties of prohibition. [continues 460 words]
Willie Nelson Feels Maureen Dowd's Pain WASHINGTON - WHEN Willie Nelson invites you to get high with him on his bus, you go. The man is the patron saint of pot, after all, and I'm the poster girl for bad pot trips. It seemed like a match made in hash heaven. When Nelson sang at the 9:30 club in D.C. one recent night, I ventured onto the Honeysuckle Rose, as his tour bus and home-away-from-home is called. [continues 850 words]
To the Editor: Re "The N.F.L.'s Absurd Marijuana Policy" (Op-Ed, Sept. 9): The retired tight end Nate Jackson describes the daily pain of football players, and asks that they be allowed to self-medicate with marijuana. I reach a different conclusion: Football is too violent. People should not be allowed to assault one another physically, even on a gridiron in front of tens of thousands. The rest of us shouldn't watch such mayhem. Williamstown, Mass., Sept. 9, 2014 [end]
Evidence From Legalization in 2 States Will Help Guide Decisions in the Rest Federalism is the American theory of using the 50 states as legal and social laboratories whose experiments can inform the other states and the federal government about practices that are worth duplicating and those that are not. To the benefit of the rest of the country, Colorado and Washington state have embarked on an experiment that may answer many questions about the use of marijuana and how governments deal with it. [continues 529 words]
LOS ANGELES - VIRTUALLY every single player in the N.F.L. has a certifiable need for medical marijuana. The game we celebrate creates a life of daily pain for those who play it. Some players choose marijuana to manage this pain, which allows them to perform at a high level without sacrificing their bodies or their minds. I medicated with marijuana for most of my career as a tight end from 2003 through 2008. And I needed the medication. I broke my tibia, dislocated my shoulder, separated both shoulders, tore my groin off the bone once and my hamstring off the bone twice, broke fingers and ribs, tore my medial collateral ligament, suffered brain trauma, etc. Most players have similar medical charts. And every one of them needs the medicine. [continues 663 words]
Even marijuana companies don't want their employees stoned on the job. But in states that have legalized marijuana for recreational or medical use, many employers have retained or imposed "no tolerance" policies, penalizing workers for off-premise activity that is perfectly legal. Brandon Coats, who answers customer calls for the Dish Network in Denver, has been paralyzed since a car crash at the age of 16, and smokes marijuana at night to relieve painful spasms. As Jack Healy reported in The Times on Monday, Mr. Coats was fired in 2010 for failing a random drug test, even though he carries a valid medical marijuana card. [continues 358 words]
Marijuana Seeps into Tailgating Rituals at Mile High in Colorado DENVER - Wait. Does that glittering stadium really look like a just-landed spaceship under a blueberry sky? Or is that just because, well, y'know. ... I'm standing in a parking lot overlooking the stadium known prosaically as Sports Authority and poetically as Mile High. That handle is metaphorically apt, too, as I'm engaged in the all-American sport of tailgating, with Corey and the Wookie and four friends. They've got the requisite awning next to their pickup truck, a grill and sweet microbrews. And they have stuffed righteous-smelling marijuana - the sativa variety - in a pipe that is detailed with a neat little Denver Broncos insignia. [continues 1006 words]
One day in January 2007, the disgruntled ex-girlfriend of a Queens pot dealer walked unprompted into the district office of the Drug Enforcement Administration on Long Island. Sitting down with an agent, she bitterly gave vent: Her former boyfriend, the father of her child, was selling weed. As a rule, the drug agency isn't in the business of settling romantic scores, but the woman, who had shown up with her child in tow, was adamant that her onetime lover was a major player in the city's wholesale marijuana trade. A group of federal agents started looking into the man. [continues 2573 words]
We all have biases. Skin color, sex, even height, weight and hair style - these all play a role in how we perceive others. Our minds are constantly picking up on things of which we are not consciously aware and using those evaluations to guide our behavior. Malcolm Gladwell has called this phenomenon "thin-slicing," and in general, the ability to rapidly assess the situation around us has been advantageous from an evolutionary standpoint, when the ability to quickly, autonomically assess the threats around us could make the difference between passing on our genes to the next generation and getting speared by an enemy too easily trusted. [continues 386 words]
PRESCRIPTION opioid painkillers like Percocet, Vicodin and OxyContin have come under intense scrutiny in recent years because of the drastic rise in overdose deaths associated with their prolonged use. Meanwhile, access to medical marijuana has been expanding - 23 states and the District of Columbia have legalized its broad medical use - and chronic or severe pain is by far the most common condition reported among people using it. Could the availability of medical marijuana reduce the hazards of prescription painkillers? If enough people opt to treat pain with medical marijuana instead of prescription painkillers in states where this is legal, it stands to reason that states with medical marijuana laws might experience an overall decrease in opioid painkiller overdoses and deaths. [continues 536 words]
If Gov. Andrew Cuomo is worried about political fallout from supporting medical marijuana, he need not worry. When medical marijuana was the focus of debate in 2010, polling data showed a significant majority of New Yorkers - as high as 71 percent in one poll - were in favor. Our Northeastern neighbors - in Vermont, Maine, Rhode Island, New Jersey and Delaware - all have medical marijuana statutes, and those states have not descended into chaos. New Jersey has strict rules to ensure patients' supplies of marijuana are monitored and that licensed producers' operations are secured. Producers face lost licenses or criminal charges if found to be derelict. [continues 124 words]
A New Study Warns Emergency Workers About the Dangers of Heroin Cut With Acetyl Fentanyl To the long list of reasons that make abusing heroin so dangerous, add this: acetyl fentanyl. According to a recently published study in the Annals of Emergency Medicine, acetyl fentanyl is a "quasi-legal" synthetic opiate often mixed with heroin sold on the street. It's potent stuff - five to 15 times stronger than heroin - but users typically have no idea if it's in the dose they've just bought. [continues 290 words]
Owen Kemp's family celebrated his 20th birthday Jan. 12 with everything - Chinese takeout, fireworks, singing and cake. Everything - - except Owen Kemp. The boy who once made goofy faces for the camera, sang "You Are My Sunshine" over and over, loved fishing with his dad and baked apple crisp for his grandparents died of a heroin overdose in November while staying with his grandparents in North Utica. "He was our world," grandmother Deborah Humphrey said. "He brought me more joy than anyone ever has. He also brought more sadness." [continues 1100 words]
Over the vehement objections of both neighborhood residents and Erie County officials, the state has decided to grant Hispanics United of Buffalo and Acacia Network a conditional license to operate a clinic that will dispense methadone to heroin addicts. The state Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Service, in a letter dated Wednesday, notified the clinic operators that it is granting a conditional certificate of operation for the clinic to be run out of Hispanics United's headquarters at 254 Virginia St. The letter said the decision was made, in part, after more than 60 community meetings had been held to discuss the proposal with nearby residents. [continues 622 words]
Heroin is an incredibly dangerous, highly addictive drug that has ruined - and claimed - countless lives. As deputy commissioner of the county's Department of Mental Health and a New York state credentialed alcoholism and substance abuse counselor I have seen first-hand the devastating effects of this drug on families throughout our area. This is a crisis that seems only to be growing - a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services survey found that 467,000 Americans were addicted to heroin, a figure that has doubled over a decade. Our communities are not immune to this growing crisis and real solutions are needed now more than ever. [continues 274 words]
TOWN OF ULSTER - Sloane LaPointe credits her 8-month-old dog, Moo, and their participation in the Awareness counseling program with helping her maintain a drug-free lifestyle. "When you're in recovery and you feel completely alone, it's nice to have something there with you," LaPointe said recently. "Someone that needs you. Someone that you can go to every day that doesn't judge you. That constantly loves you. You need that to recover. And that's what Awareness brings to it, too. It's not even about making you more comfortable. It's about having that bond with something." [continues 757 words]
ALBANY - In an effort to reduce heroin overdose cases, 12 state colleges will get naloxone kits, the potent heroin antidote. Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is making the announcement Wednesday at SUNY Purchase in Westchester County. The Community Overdoes Prevention program will provide SUNY police with nearly $27,000 to purchase 258 naloxone kits for campuses at Purchase, Potsdam, Buffalo, Cortland, Oswego, Albany, Geneseo, Adirondack, Canton, Utica/Rome, Farmingdale, and New Paltz. Each naloxone kit will consist of zip bag or pouches will contain two pre-filled syringes of naloxone, the heroin antidote that can reverse the effects of an opioid or heroin overdose. It also will include two atomizers for nasal administration, sterile gloves and a pamphlet on the use of the drug. [continues 244 words]
ALBANY - In an effort to reduce heroin overdose cases, 12 state colleges will get naloxone kits, the potent heroin antidote. Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is making the announcement Wednesday at SUNY Purchase in Westchester County. The Community Overdoses Prevention program will provide SUNY police with nearly $27,000 to purchase 258 naloxone kits for campuses at Purchase, Potsdam, Buffalo, Cortland, Oswego, Albany, Geneseo, Adirondack, Canton, Utica/Rome, Farmingdale, and New Paltz. Each naloxone kit will consist of a zip bag or pouches that will contain two pre-filled syringes of naloxone, the heroin antidote that can reverse the effects of an opioid or heroin overdose. It also will include two atomizers for nasal administration, sterile gloves and a pamphlet on the use of the drug. [continues 244 words]
Boys from fourth to ninth grades Wednesday took a break from playing basketball at the Town of Oyster Bay Athletic Center in Hicksville to listen to a Nassau County detective's presentation about the dangers of drugs. "This is the biggest epidemic this country faces," Det. Pamela Stark said. "Every 15 minutes someone in the country is dying from opiates." Every year, as part of the Nassau Police Athletic League's Drug Awareness and Prevention Program, children of all ages learn about the consequences of drug abuse. Wednesday's was an all-boys PAL camp. [continues 223 words]
Inside New York
