Heroin addiction front and center at Valley Stream GOP meeting

He was sleeping a lot, he was always congested in the nose. We figured [it was] allergies, it was an easy way to explain this away.””

John Priest, East Meadow

At the Valley Stream Republican Club’s last public meeting of the year on May 1, there was no mention of political subjects, such as the president, Congress or health care reform. In fact, the only reference was when one man questioned Mike Seltzer, a member of the village Fire Department: “What do you think of all these states legalizing marijuana?”

John Priest, of East Meadow, who lost his son to a heroin overdose in 2012, dismissed the question. The Republican Club decided to focus the meeting on a more local issue that its members believe transcends party lines: the heroin epidemic and addict rehabilitation.

“It’s a major problem in the community,” said John DeGrace, the club’s president. “We felt it’s something our neighbors should be made aware of.”

Eight people died from heroin overdoses in Valley Stream last year, according to Eden Laikin, director of government research for the Nassau County executive’s office, who spoke at the meeting. She also said that the most recent statistics suggest that at least one person in a room of more than 100 Valley Streamers would be addicted to heroin.

The heroin epidemic began several years ago, when it became harder for young addicts to get prescription drugs. Some of those who were addicted to painkillers resorted to heroin to get high. In recent years, the addition of fentanyl has made heroin 10 times more deadly. According to the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids, fentanyl was added to heroin to increase the high, even if the heroin was diluted to make it cheaper.

Last year, police across the country also noticed that some dealers were lacing their heroin with carfentanil, a synthetic opioid that is used as an elephant tranquilizer. According to the Drug Enforcement Agency, carfentanil is 100 times deadlier than fentanyl, which itself is 30 to 50 times more lethal than heroin. The addition of these drugs, according to Laikin, increases the dosage of naloxone needed to reduce the effects of a heroin overdose.

Priest knows about the dangers of a heroin addiction firsthand. He shared the story of his son, Rob, and his death on April 10, 2012. That morning, Priest noticed that Rob was not waking up, and he called for an ambulance. The firemen who responded “all thought it was the 50-year-old finally stressed himself out and had a heart attack,” Priest said. “I remember vividly the look on their faces when they realized they were there to work on my son.” Rob was 22.

He spent 36 hours at the Nassau University Medical Center, where his friends talked about his heroin addiction. That was when Priest realized he and his wife ignored the signs. “He was sleeping a lot,” he said of his son. “He was always congested in the nose. We figured [it was] allergies. It was an easy way to explain this away.”

Priest and Laikin also spoke about treatments for heroin addicts, including naltrexone and naloxone. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, “naltrexone blocks the euphoric and sedative effects of drugs such as heroin, morphine and codeine.” Former heroin addicts who take naltrexone may even have a reduced tolerance for opioids, and if a person relapses, naltrexone prevents the feeling of getting high. Naloxone is used when someone is overdosing from heroin or another opioid. It “binds to opioid receptors and can reverse and block the effects” of an opioid, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Some believe that these treatments encourage people to use heroin because they know that they can be saved, but Priest dismissed that idea. He argued that people are going to shoot heroin whether there is a treatment or not. “Is having a designated driver an enabling factor? No,” he said.

Jim Wyler, the clinical director of the Valley Stream-based Friends of Bridge, told the audience about the nonprofit group’s adolescent program to treat school-age children, ages 13 to 18. “While at our facility, they get not only the New York state education to keep up with the school work for the grade they’re in … during the rest of the day, they come for addiction treatment,” Wyler said, adding that the program removes students from an environment where they have access to drugs, and puts them into a smaller classroom so the teachers can focus on the individual student.

In order to be treated, however, someone needs to know that the child needs rehabilitation. That is why Priest encouraged parents to buy a drug test. “Go to CVS or Rite Aid. It’s $35,” he said. “It’s cheaper than a funeral.”