The number of people who died from overdoses of opioids in Nassau County declined from 250 in 2022 to 210 in 2023, the last year those numbers are available.
The decline in overdose deaths is good news – to a point.
The 210 lives lost in 2023 are still too many lives lost too soon. Declines in overdoes have been followed increases in the past, And those who have lost their lives to opioids don’t seem to command the same urgency as people who have died from other causes.
Imagine if those deaths were homicides, which in a sense they were.
The tragedy of just one life lost was heard in the testimony given by Corinne Kaufman, a Glen Cove resident whose granddaughter, Paige Gibbons, died of an overdose in 2022 after accidentally consuming fentanyl when she believed she was taking a Percocet at a friend’s sleepover.
The better news is that Nassau County has received nearly $100 million in settlement funds that can be used to combat the opioid crisis and that total could grow to $180 million.
The opioid settlement funds came to Nassau County from legal settlements with pharmaceutical companies, distributors, and other entities involved in the opioid supply chain, including familiar drug stores.
These settlements were part of nationwide and state-level lawsuits aimed at holding these entities accountable for their role in fueling an opioid crisis that has claimed the lives of more than 400,000 Americans since the 1990s.
The $100 million that Nassau has already received represents an opportunity to significantly reduce the death toll caused by opioids in the county. The question is how best to use that money. There is no shortage of ideas on how to do so.
Jeff Reynolds, president of the Family and Children’s Association in Garden City and the former executive director of the Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, told Schneps Media LI that there are four steps to addressing substance use disorder: prevention efforts, harm reduction, access to treatment, and recovery support.
Prevention includes public awareness campaigns funded by governments and private organizations that aim to educate people about the dangers of opioid misuse and school-based programs to educate youth on avoiding drug misuse.
Harm reduction can be achieved through the distribution of naloxone, a nasal spray that can help reverse an overdose to buy time for the individual to get medical care. Other harm reduction efforts could include the distribution of fentanyl test strips and the distribution of clean syringes.
Reynolds said access to treatment has grown in Nassau County, but it is still easier to get fentanyl – currently the leading cause of opioid overdoses in Nassau – than it is to receive treatment.
His organization operates the only recovery center in Nassau County, which is located in Westbury. Reynolds said more than 10,000 people access the facility annually.
But Westbury is not an accessible location for every individual in recovery in Nassau County, especially for those who live further away and don’t have reliable access to transportation.
Reynolds said Nassau County could benefit from three or four recovery centers. Their absence has resulted in people being treated for overdoses but then being let out without addressing their addiction only to see them return to an emergency room or worse.
Nassau County Legislature Presiding Officer Howard Kopel (R-Lawrence), said an Intensive Crisis Stabilization Center in Hicksville that will provide emergency care, observation and treatment for Long Islanders with mental health conditions or substance use disorders — will be funded with $12 million in opioid settlement funds.
Nassau County Minority Leader Delia DeRiggi-Whitton (D-Glen Cove) has suggested that the county invest $30 million in the financially troubled Nassau University Medical Center to “make it the best opioid treatment center in the nation.”
Reynolds said one of the facilities he would like to see established would serve young people who have a substance use disorder.
He also urged refunding Sherpa, a program with Certified Recovery Peer Advocates who meet with individuals and families dealing with substance use disorder to provide peer support and facilitate access to resources.
The free Sherpa program assisted 511 people in 2024 and had a 91% engagement rate.
Other municipalities have expanded Access to Medication-Assisted Treatment, which uses medications like buprenorphine, methadone, and naltrexone to treat patients.
The list goes on. More than 30 years into the opioid crisis, there is no shortage of ways to address the problem.
Nassau County now has the money to implement solutions. It must now decide how best to spend the money.
