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Local leaders on Long Island will continue sounding the alarm over America’s growing opioid epidemic at their first-ever fentanyl summit, hosted by the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office on Wednesday, May 29.
Members of the public, along with families who have lost someone to an opioid overdose, are invited to ask law enforcement panelists and members of the medical examiner’s office any questions they have about fentanyl.
The summit will also address the current state of affairs at the local, state, and federal levels regarding the overdose crisis, according to Suffolk County DA Raymond Tierney, who is also slated to speak at the event.
Other expected speakers include Suffolk County Sheriff Errol Toulon Jr., Deputy Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina, and the county’s chief medical examiner, Odette Hall.
Members of the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and New York State Police will also be on hand, organizers said.
A powerful, synthetic opioid that is nearly 100 times stronger than morphine, fentanyl is often sold in combination with other drugs and is frequently found in counterfeit pharmaceutical drugs mimicking oxycodone.
The drug has led to a growing number of overdose deaths across the country in recent years.
Nationwide, more than 110,000 people died from fentanyl poisoning in 2022, according to Tierney’s office. More than 400 deaths in Suffolk County were attributed to the drug during the same year.
Earlier this year, Tierney pushed for New York lawmakers to pass a proposed bill that would allow for manslaughter charges against drug dealers behind fatal overdoses.
“Opioid overdose is the leading cause of death for young people aged 18-50. This is a crisis. While legislation will never be the sole solution, these commonsense changes will save lives,” Tierney said in January.
“It is our moral and ethical duty, at the very least, to ask each of our elected officials to consider these bills. What New York is doing now is not working and young people are dying at alarming rates.”
Suffolk County’s fentanyl summit will be held from 12:30 to 5 p.m. Wednesday, May 29, at Suffolk County Community College’s Van Nostrand Theatre in Brentwood.
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