STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.-- At a time when funding for government services is being drained by efforts to curb the overall economic impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the opioid crisis is an issue that still needs to be addressed, said Rep. Max Rose (D-Staten Island/Brooklyn).
Speaking at a press conference Sunday outside a Staten Island addiction recovery center in St. George, Rose laid out two pieces of legislation aimed at providing more access to opioid addiction treatment, while reducing the influence of big pharmaceutical companies in Washington.
Said Rose: “This has touched and impacted too many lives and too many families both here at home and across the country. Giving up is not an option.”
PENDING LEGISLATION
Rose’s END the Epidemic Act would establish a tax of 1 cent per milligram of opioids produced or manufactured, generating an estimated $2 billion to be used for opioid addiction treatment, recovery, prevention and research.
“It is the least these companies can do,” Rose said. “If it was up to me, they’d all be in handcuffs.”
He also touted legislation that would ban opioid manufacturers' corporate PACs from donating to politicians, while continuing a push to end the “corrupt influence corporations and their political action committees play in politics.”
“I will never take a dime—not one cent—from these criminals," Rose said.
AN ONGOING CRISIS
Over this past summer, it was reported that drug overdose deaths in America -- which in 2018 dropped for the first time in a quarter-century -- surged to record numbers in 2019 and were continuing to climb into 2020.
Rose was joined Sunday by a Mariners Harbor woman who has three sons. One of them is a sergeant in the Army, one works for the city, and the other became addicted to heroin.
“When I first found that needle in my house, my soul left my body,” said Sidra Cardieri. “I could never imagine myself in this predicament.”
After being told by treatment centers that either there wasn’t a bed available, or they didn’t accept the family’s insurance, that son currently is serving five to 10 years in prison for armed robbery, Cardieri said.
A CONTINUED EFFORT
The press conference was held outside the Staten Island Justice Center at 60 Bay Street, where several public services offer what Rose described as a “one stop shop" in treating addiction and preventing addicts with criminal records from falling back into the lifestyle.
One of the services offered is a 24-hour Drug Recovery Center, which Rose said he was involved in establishing as Chief of Staff at Brightpoint Health.
“But we have a lot more to do,” Rose said. “First and foremost, we need to be doubling and tripling down on funding to combat the opioid epidemic.”
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September 27, 2020 at 11:00PM
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Rep. Max Rose calls for opioid tax, more funding for treatment - SILive.com
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