WASHINGTON – US Senator Charles Schumer joined the fight seeking emergency funding to increase the battle against the drug epidemic facing the state and nation.
Legislation calls for an additional $600 million to battle opioid and heroin abuse, the New York lawmaker said.
“It will provide more money for law enforcement to stop the flow of these drugs into our communities and to provide money for counseling and treatment, which we know can help cure kids, and provide money for education so kids know that stuff is bad and they shouldn’t use it and so doctors and pharmacies don’t abuse and doctors don’t over-prescribe,” Schumer said.
In the Hudson Valley alone the number of opioid-related deaths rose from 16 in 2004 to 173 in 2013.
