Commissioner Patrick Ryder details opioid crisis in East Meadow

When Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder found out that East Meadow had the second-highest rate of drug overdoses in the county, he was shocked, he said.

He spoke at a town hall meeting at East Meadow Fire Department headquarters on March 20, which involved local law enforcement, county officials and recovery experts and filled community members in on what has been called an opioid crisis.

There were 57 opioid overdoses in East Meadow between Jan. 1, 2017 and March 13, 2018. (Two involved non-residents who overdosed in East Meadow.) Jeffrey Reynolds, president and chief executive officer of the Family and Children’s Association, headquartered in Mineola, explained that the number of overdose deaths in Nassau County has spiked in recent years, and there were roughly 600 in 2017.

“We always talk about the opposite of addiction being abstinence and recovery,” Reynolds said. “It’s not. It’s connection. This is a disease that thrives on secrecy, that grows when we don’t talk about it. That’s how it got so bad on Long Island.”

John Priest, a member of the East Meadow Fire Department, reflected on the fatal overdose of his son Rob, who was also an EMFD firefighter, on April 10, 2012. “He was my best friend,” Priest said. “We missed all the signs, and it took me a long time to let myself off the hook.”

Priest explained that, in hindsight, there were warning signs that he could have recognized. Rob was “always sick,” he said, in the days leading up to his overdose. He appeared sluggish, was unmotivated to participate in family activities and began hanging around with a new group of friends. He died after falling asleep on Easter Sunday, as he lay on a couch all day while his family celebrated the holiday.

“One of his friends died 23 days before him, and I still didn’t figure out he was probably doing drugs,” Priest said.

After using heroin once, an individual is primed to use it again in an effort to achieve the same high, Nassau County Police Officer John Obert-Thorne explained. This is referred to as “chasing the dragon,” and, for some, the proclivity to become addicted can be traced back to when they first drank or smoked marijuana and said, “ ‘For the first time, my anxiety went away. I no longer felt depressed. I felt like I fit in,’” Reynolds said before asking, “How do we talk a 15-year-old out of those feelings?”

Reynolds mentioned a person who started smoking and drinking at age 15, and five years later was using 20 bags of heroin a day. Addicts lose their ability to manage their emotions without a substance, he explained, and the feeling when someone stops using heroin is like having the flu — times ten.

“Follow your gut,” he advised the audience. “If you think there’s something going on, there probably is.” He urged parents to communicate with their children about the epidemic and encouraged forming ritualistic and preventive connections. He said, for example, that he always hugs his daughter when she comes home from school. When she reaches her teen years, he will be able to smell whether she is drinking or smoking without appearing suspicious.

Christopher Ferro, an NCPD deputy inspector, added that it is important for parents to be upfront with their children. Today, Priest’s children take drug tests, which can be found able at most pharmacies.

Frank Camarano, president of the East Meadow Chamber of Commerce, said he appreciated the county’s extending a hand to the community after releasing the overdose rates. “It’s a number, but it’s all of our problems,” Camarano said. “Any help that the county wants to give us and any other community is welcome.”

“I definitely think this is prevalent among students,” Kevin Martin, a senior at East Meadow High School who attended the meeting, said of drug abuse. He added that he had heard Priest share his story at a school assembly, and he believed that his peers were becoming increasingly aware of the seriousness of the epidemic.

Reynolds added that anyone with questions or concerns could call him anytime at (631) 513-5757.