Seeking shelter from the opioid ‘storm’

Adelphi hosts program to address Long Island’s drug epidemic

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Linda Ventura, of Kings Park, has been meeting with New York State legislators in Albany since 2012 to challenge a law mandating that people struggling with addiction fail an outpatient treatment program before acceptance into an inpatient program.

During one of her meetings, Ventura slammed a plastic container full of ashes in front of the legislators. “This is Thomas,” she said. “And he didn’t fail first.”

In 2012, Ventura’s son Thomas overdosed on heroin after several attempts to join a long-term recovery program — all of which ended with denial of coverage by his insurance. After her son’s death, Ventura formed the organization Thomas’ Hope and helped pass 12 bills directed at improving access to treatment.

“I’ll be that pissed-off mom and I’ll open my mouth,” Ventura said as she shared her story in front of a crowd of more than 200 people at an event hosted by the Adelphi University Center for Health Innovation on Oct. 12 called “Smacked by the Storm: How Long Island Can Recover From Its Opioid Crisis.”

The event was led by Jeffrey Reynolds, the president and CEO of Family and Children’s Association, and inspired by a TED Talk he gave at the university in April.

“When we think about the average heroin user, it’s the chronically homeless guy stumbling around the Lower East Side with a needle in his arm,” Reynolds said in his TED Talk. “It’s not the perky cheerleader from Garden City. It’s not the honors student from Smithtown. It’s not the scholar athlete from East Hampton.”

At the event, Reynolds said that this mindset has stigmatized the disease of addiction and allowed the epidemic to grow like a storm for which Long Island wasn’t prepared. Reynolds joined key players in the fight against opioids to explore how, as communities, people can work together toward an end of the epidemic.

Following Reynolds was Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas, who said that when it comes to law enforcement, “We can’t arrest our way out of this [epidemic].”

Instead, she noted that law enforcement must crack down on drug dealers and preventative measures must be taken to prevent opioids from being trafficked into Nassau County.

Singas said that those who struggle with addiction must receive more help and touted the county’s funding of Maryhaven’s New Hope Crisis Center in Freeport, which treats addicted people as soon as they seek care.

“We are in the middle of a terrible storm,” Singas said. “But I do believe that, working together, working collaboratively, we will turn a corner.”

Ventura spoke after Singas to share her personal story and efforts to help individuals struggling with addiction. The event was then broken down into three panels dealing with prevention, treatment and recovery.

Audrey Freshman, the director of Continuing Education and Professional Development at Adelphi, spoke on the treatment panel and said that she hoped the crowd of students and Nassau County residents leave the event asking, “How can I affect change from where I sit?”

Freshman said that she wants to help affect that change through the number of addiction-related programs she has created at Adelphi. This includes a course she will offer in November called “Trauma and Addiction,” exploring the correlation between substance addiction and the long-term effects of physical or emotional trauma.