Referred to: The Public Health and Social Services Committee (Chairman Lopez and

Legislators Allen, Belfiglio, Litts and Provenzano)

Legislators Carl Belfiglio, David Donaldson, John Parete and Mary Wawro offer the

following:

WHEREAS, August 31st is recognized as International Overdose Awareness

Day; and

WHEREAS, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention

(CDC), nationwide, drug-induced overdose deaths now surpass deaths by gunshot

wounds or motor vehicle crashes in the United States; and

WHEREAS, Michael Botticelli, Director of the National Drug Control Policy

stated, “In 2013, one American died every 12 minutes from an overdose, most

involving opioids, which include prescription pain medicines and heroin. A

substance abuse disorder is a chronic disease that can be prevented and treated, and

from which recovery is possible”; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Botticelli further noted “We don’t predicate saving

someone’s life from other diseases based on their compliance with treatment. We

save their lives because their lives are worth saving. Families suffering from opioid

abuse, he concluded, need to know there is hope and life and joy on the other side of

addition”; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the CDC, stated “We had a fourfold

increase in deaths from opiates in a decade”; and

WHEREAS, the CDC found that heroin deaths doubled between 2010 and

2012; and

WHEREAS, in a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

(SAMHSA) national survey on Drug Use and Health conducted from 2002 to 2013,

approximately 20% of people 12 to 17 years old do not believe using heroin once or

twice a week is harmful; and 

WHEREAS, Dr. Mary Jeanne Kreek, a professor and head of the Laboratory

of the Biology of Addictive Diseases at Rockefeller University, stated opiate

addiction “alters multiple regions in the brain, including those that regulate reward,

memory and learning, stress responsivity, and hormonal response, as well as

executive function which is involved in decision-making – simply put, when to say

yes and when to say no”; and

WHEREAS, the Partnership for Drug Free Kids estimates 85 million

Americans have been touched by addiction; and

WHEREAS, loving families in our community and communities across the

nation, struggling to guide an individual suffering from substance abuse disorder

toward recovery, are living a roller coaster of remissions and relapses; and

WHEREAS, it is these families that have become the experts in grief

recovery, overdose prevention, harm reduction, advocacy, and reality-based

education for our communities; and

WHEREAS, it is this previously stigmatized and faceless community of

families that is speaking up to warn people about the tragic reality of drug addiction;

and

WHEREAS, the Ulster County Legislature had recognized the need to supply

more information about heroin and opioid abuse and misuse through the creation of

the Ulster County Coalition Against Narcotics to recommend solutions to prevent

and protect the public from opiate drug abuse in Ulster County; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, the Ulster County Legislature continues to recognize that raising

awareness, breaking stigmas, and calling attention to this public health crisis is the

cornerstone to combating this public health crisis; and, be it further

RESOLVED, the members of the Ulster County Legislature take this

opportunity to honor the lives lost to addiction and to pay tribute to the families that

were left behind, as well as to those families openly or privately continuing, to fight

against this devastating disease; and, be it further

RESOLVED, that the Ulster County Legislature hereby proclaims September

2015 as Lost to Addiction Awareness Month in Ulster County; and, be it further

RESOLVED, that the Clerk of the Ulster County Legislature shall forward

copies of this resolution to Ulster County Executive Michael Hein, Ulster County

Department of Health Commissioner Carol Smith and all Ulster County media

outlets,

and move its adoption.

ADOPTED BY THE FOLLOWING VOTE:

AYES: 22 NOES: 0

(Legislator Briggs left at 7:46 PM)

Passed Committee: Public Health and Social Services on August 31, 2015

FINANCIAL IMPACT: NONE

STATE OF NEW YORK

 ss:

COUNTY OF ULSTER

I, the undersigned Clerk of the Legislature of the County of Ulster, hereby certify that the foregoing resolution is

the original resolution adopted by the Ulster County Legislature on the 15th Day of September in the year Two Thousand

and Fifteen, and said resolution shall remain on file in the office of said clerk.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and seal of the County of Ulster this 17th Day of

September in the year Two Thousand and Fifteen.

|s| Victoria A. Fabella

Victoria A. Fabella, Clerk

Ulster County Legislature