Over 500 people to attend the first Countywide heroin Summit Formed to Battle Long Island’s Fast-Growing and Deadly Epidemic of Drug Abuse, Local Residents to speak out for the first time about their personal struggles and overdoses, new statistics to be released
(Long Island, NY) Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano, Suffolk County Executive Steven Bellone and POLICE PBA President James Carver will join together with hundreds of families who lost loved ones to heroin abuse and addiction, They will hold a candlelight vigil ceremony at the first-ever Nassau County Heroin Summit Being held today, Thursday, February 18th at 11:45am . Nassau Police Commissioner Thomas Krumpter and Suffolk County Deputy Police Commissioner Tim Sini will discuss law enforcement measures and new statistics in the battle against Heron . The summitt will feature health officials and medical experts who will discuss the latest treatments to battle the surging heroin epidemic on Long Island. Local residents and students will be speaking out for the first time about their personal battles with heroin. Long Island is one of the country’s leading areas for heroin abuse and death.
Nassau County will introduce for the first time ”Students Against Heroin at the Summit”. The new group will act as an advocacy group in High School and College Campuses. Long Island School officials attending the summit include; Westbury School District, Sewanhaka Central School District, Hempstead Union Free School District, East Meadow School District, Locust Valley Central School District, Rockville Centre Union Free School District, Hicksville School District, Valley Stream Union Free School District, Hewlett-Woodmere Union Free School District, Baldwin Union Free School District, Freeport Union Free School District, Plainview-Old Bethpage Central School District, Floral Park-Bellerose, Long Beach City School District, Levittown Union Free School District, North Shore Central School District, Syosset Central School District, Bethpage Union Free School District and members of the New York City Department of Education. The Nassau county PBA will assist in funding any local chapters that are formed.
Nearly 40 percent more people died of heroin overdoses last year than the year before, according to the The National Institutes of Health, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Heroin deaths have increased by a shocking 243 percent nationwide since 2007. Law-enforcement agencies report that more than 5,000 kilos of the drug were seized in 2014, compared with 2,763 kilos in 2010. On Long Island, more people die of heroin overdoses and related causes every year. According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, an estimated 6.5 million Americans misused a prescription drug in 2014. The same year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported a total of 47,055 drug overdose deaths, including both prescription and illicit drugs. That is a 6.5 percent increase from 2013 and a 140 percent increase since 2000. The Summit is being sponsored by the Nassau County Police Benevolent Association, Nassau County Detectives Association, and the superior officers Association.
When:
- Thursday, February 18, 2016 11:45AM
Where:
- Coral House
70 Milburn Avenue
Baldwin, NY
