Schumer seeks more federal funds, says LI is on the 'front lines' of opioid scourge

With Long Island once again experiencing spikes in opioid overdoses, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is pushing to increase federal funding by more than $3 billion to battle the public health crisis.

One day before National Fentanyl Awareness Day, Schumer, citing statistics first reported by Newsday, announced plans Monday to "supercharge" the fight against opioid addiction by increasing prevention, treatment and recovery funding. 

"We know there are solutions," Schumer said at a news conference with elected officials and addiction specialists at THRIVE, a treatment center in Westbury. "Treatment and counseling work. There's just a huge shortage of money. That's a problem. We know we can solve it."

Experts said they had gained ground on the opioid scourge in recent years, but the pandemic appears to have set the island back, with overdoses climbing yet again.

In Nassau County, there were 36 confirmed fatal opioid overdoses during the first three months of 2022, a 14% increase from the same period last year, officials said. The figures include cases in which Nassau police responded as opposed to village or town police.

In total, Nassau officials said there were 162 confirmed opioid deaths in 2021 and another 185 cases pending completion of toxicology by the county medical examiner's office. Nassau officials reported 287 fatal overdoses in 2020, including dozens not formally cleared by the medical examiner.

Thus far in 2022, there have been 53 confirmed fatal opioid overdoses in Suffolk, county officials said.

In 2021, the were 415 fatal overdoses in Suffolk, including 134 suspected deaths not yet confirmed by the medical examiner, officials said last month. That's up from 411 deaths in 2020, including 62 not yet cleared by the medical examiner.

The pandemic left people struggling with social isolation, financial anxieties and mental health challenges, experts have said.

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, who joined Schumer at the news conference, said many turned to narcotics to ease their struggles.

"Coming out of the COVID-19 crisis, people were isolated. They became depressed," Blakeman said Monday. "Unfortunately now they're turning to all kinds of substances."

Schumer wants to add $3.2 billion to the National Drug Control Program, bringing the total funding to $42.5 billion.

Those funds include a nearly $1.5 billion increase for drug treatment; a $500 million boost for the State Opioid Response Grants program; an additional $303 million for community mental health and substance use disorder treatment services; $4 million more to prevent youth substance abuse and $3.5 million more to target drug traffickers and supply chains.

Schumer said Nassau and Suffolk should receive a high proportion of those funds to battle its opioid crisis.

"Long Island is on the front lines of the opioid scourge," Schumer said, noting that the White House supports his efforts. "Today’s push to supercharge the funds that can and have helped to put out the fire is no drill — it’s a necessity.”

Funding increases garnered by Schumer last year were used to create a new recovery center on Suffolk's East End and a new anti-drug coalition in Roosevelt, officials said.

Jeffrey Reynolds, president and chief executive of the Family & Children’s Association, a Mineola-based agency that provides drug treatment, said the increase of deadly fentanyl is the latest phase in the island's opioid crisis. "We now expect to see fentanyl in every street sample that's out there," Reynolds said. "We found fentanyl in every drug that's out there. The main lesson to young people is one pill can kill. That Xanax you pick up on the street. That Adderall you pick up at a party. That bag of heroin that you buy and you think you know the landscape really well these days is likely to be contaminated with fentanyl."

By Robert Brodsky

robert.brodsky@newsday.com@BrodskyRobert

Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.