ALBANY—State Senate Democrats on Tuesday passed a slew of bills geared toward combating the opioid crisis that’s plagued New Yorkers.
The package includes several pieces of legislation requiring new standards of medical education, streamlining access to recovery methods, and reforming the opioid prescription process.
One bill named “Stephen’s Law” is named after Stephen Canastraro, who died in 2018 following a drug use relapse and subsequent overdose.
It’s sponsored by state Sen. Peter Harckham (D-Hudson Valley) and would authorize drug treatment programs to notify a patient’s pre-approved emergency contact should an emergency situation occur.
“My son Stephen was very transparent in his substance abuse struggle. He was kind and loving and just wanted to get help,” said his mother Angela Robertson, an advocate for the law, on Tuesday.
“He had plans for his future. He never got the chance,” she added.
The legislation cleared the upper legislative chamber in a 61 to 0 vote. It has yet to pass through state Assembly.
The Democrats also released the findings from the Joint Task Force on Opioids, Addiction and Overdose Prevention which conducted eight hearings and six treatment site visits across the Empire State and even one in Canada last year.
“The devastating impact of the opioid epidemic does not discriminate against urban, suburban or rural communities. All of New York state has suffered because of the crisis,” said state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart Cousins (D-Westchester).
The Centers for Disease Control recorded that over 70,000 individuals died from drug overdoses in 2017—making it a leading cause of injury related death in the US.
Nearly 68 percent of those deaths resulted from a prescription or illegal drug addiction.
The City Health Department recorded a two percent drop in overdose related deaths between 2017 and 2018 — the best numbers in a decade — and the State Department of Health saw a 15.9 percent drop in the counties outside of New York.