Editorial

Singas and Murray aren't just talking about heroin

Posted

In many elections, it can be hard to persuade candidates to discuss real issues in anything other than sound bites. Trying to get a straight answer from a politician can be extremely difficult. That’s why it’s refreshing to see the two candidates in the race for Nassau County district attorney actually tackling an issue, with more than just finely tuned words.

Nassau residents are lucky to have an energetic race for chief law enforcement officer this year, with Acting District Attorney Madeline Singas, a Democrat, being challenged by Town of Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray, a Republican. Both women have had plenty of critical things to say about each other as they have begun staking out their positions on key issues.

To their credit, however, they agree on one of the most important issues: heroin, and how its use is growing in Nassau County. They have gone well beyond merely acknowledging and decrying the problem, devising solid, realistic programs that can help reduce it. Murray has worked with law enforcement to create a heroin task force, and Singas is using asset-forfeiture funds to help addicts get treatment quickly.

As of the end of August, there were 443 arrests by Nassau County police for possession and sale of heroin this year. And that’s not counting arrests by local police departments. Every politician is talking about the problem, and for good reason. In any given week, the police reports that Herald journalists peruse detail people being arrested for heroin possession, being resuscitated with Narcan (a drug that can pull someone dying of an overdose back from the brink) and, unfortunately, succumbing to overdoses. According to the Nassau County P.D., there were 36 deaths in the first eight months of the year, doubling last year’s total for the same period.

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