NEWBURGH – Police and Orange County law enforcement officials say the drug epidemic has taken another ugly turn, with what District Attorney David Hoovler called “predators” preying an addicts coming out of a rehab clinic in Newburgh.
“Operation Clinically Addicted” began in March and continued
through August. The operation utilized undercover police officers from
the Orange County Drug Task Force to purchase the illicit drugs outside
the Center for Recovery on Commercial Place.
“It is hard enough for those addicted to opiates to break the cycle of addiction without having people hawking drugs to them where they are seeking treatment,” said Hoovler. “When they’re getting here, to those four walls, and they’re leaving from those four walls, they’re essentially being attacked by predators that are trying to sell them more drugs, some of the same drugs that they are trying to get off.”
The DA said the issue goes beyond what may be considered the obvious.
“And more and more, I have to remind people that the drug problem that we face is not a law enforcement problem; it is a problem, it is a public health problem.”
Orange County Mental Health Commissioner Darcie Miller agreed that the
predators are preying on the addicts when their most vulnerable.
“The most dangerous time for them is when they relapse and they start using substance again and it’s the most dangerous time for overdose,” Miller said. “So when they walk out of those four walls, that sanctuary that DA Hoovler referred to, is when they are most vulnerable for death.”
Miller: “… when they are most vulnerable …”. Listening are Hoovler and Sheriff Carl DuBois
Several of those arrested are first-time offenders who will be offered the opportunity to enter a rehabilitation program. The alternative would be jail, said the DA.
The suspects came from across Orange County, with one from Sullivan County and one from the Bronx.
