Prevention And Environmental Strategies

Stuart Cameron, Chief of Department, Suffolk County Police Department, on law enforcement’s role in prevention: The department has increased search warrants by 211 percent to reduce the availability of opioids.

Dr. Leslie Marino, Assistant Professor, Columbia University, on medical professionals over-prescribing opioids: “We have seen a decrease in prescribing opioids. We have seen a decrease in prescription opioid deaths, but we are seeing a plateau, so the next step, really, is to reach out to doctors in the community.”

Lars Clemensen, Hampton Bay Superintendent of Schools, on standardizing prevention programs: Suffolk County’s “69 school districts can get together to take advantage of funding the lieutenant governor mentioned to work together with our community-based organizations.”

Pamela Mizzi, Director, Long Island Prevention Resource Center, on building cooperation between competing community-based prevention groups: Suffolk County “has 11 prevention provider agencies with 45 professional substance abuse specialists deployed county-wide to address 319,000 kids. They can’t do it all. Prevention needs to be represented just as well as treatment and recovery.”

Dr. Ronald Masera, Remsenburg-Speonk Superintendent of Schools, on age-appropriate early prevention programs: “Even though we might not be talking about opioid addiction to kindergartners, we are talking about responsible decision-making and what harmful substances can do to our bodies.”

Anthony Ferrandino, Chair, Northport – East Northport Drug And Alcohol Task Force, on early prevention practices: “One of the major pieces is to adopt a K-12 drug and alcohol prevention program.”