Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone Assistant Deputy County Executive for Public Safety Timothy Sini, along with the Suffolk County Sheriff Vincent DeMarco, Suffolk County Department of Health Services and the Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug and Dependency (LICADD) announced the use of anti-addiction injections to help combat heroin and prescription drug abuse in county rehabilitation clinics. The drug, Vivitrol is used to counter the effects of opiates and aids in preventing withdrawal symptoms. Officials within the Courts, Prisons and addiction facilities will be encouraging the use of Vivitrol as a tool to prevent relapse and combat heroin and opiate abuse in our community.
As part of a “multi-pronged drug rehabilitation effort”, a substance abuse ‘peer to peer’ education program with the Sachem School District, will begin Tomorrow, January 14, 2015 at 7 p.m. at the Sachem High School East Auditorium. The program is designed to provide an outlet for students to speak about substance abuse related issues to fellow peers. This program coincides with the County’s partnership with the Rocky Point School, which featured a public service announcement to educate parents about the rising epidemic.
In addition, the Suffolk County Narcan Pilot program provides various licensed health care professionals and emergency service responders with the drug, Narcan, to help save lives. Suffolk County also administers a state-registered Opioid Overdose Prevention Program having conducted over 65 classes, collectively training 1,763 non-traditional responders, including town and village police, probation officers, school district personnel, peer support/addiction/recovery specialists, Veteran’s Services, advocacy groups, and the general lay public. In 2014, the County provided over 120 licensed physicians with new training pertaining to prescription drugs and narcotics to identify potential misuse or overuse.
For more information on the County’s substance abuse rehabilitation model and education initiatives, visit The Suffolk County Government Website