SYRACUSE, N,Y, — U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D–N.Y.) wants an additional $3.2 billion in federal funding to help the nation and Central New York organizations like Helio Health to combat opioid addiction. Schumer’s office referred to it as a “public health crisis.” The senator cited a recent local news report indicating fatal overdoses […]
SYRACUSE, N,Y, — U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D–N.Y.) wants an additional $3.2 billion in federal funding to help the nation and Central New York organizations like Helio Health to combat opioid addiction.
Schumer’s office referred to it as a “public health crisis.” The senator cited a recent local news report indicating fatal overdoses in Onondaga County have increased more than 100 percent over the last six years.
The Democrat wants lawmakers to increase funding for three specific goals within the National Drug Control Strategy: prevention, treatment and recovery.
The increase in funding will allow Central New York organizations like Helio Health to tap more dollars to further support evidence-based prevention, treatment, and addiction-recovery services, Schumer added.
Schumer spoke during a June 20 visit to Helio Health’s regional addiction-treatment center at 329 N. Salina St. in Syracuse.
“The data shows that Syracuse and Central New York are on the front line of the opioid scourge, and today’s push is to supercharge the funds that can have a meaningful impact saving lives,” Schumer said. “In far too many communities, including Central New York, the pandemic has made opioid addiction and its health impacts worse. That is why we need an all-of-the-above approach: more interdiction, prevention, treatment and recovery, to fight the flow of drugs, and more effectively assist those who are suffering from addiction.”
Onondaga County had 186 opioid overdose deaths in 2021, a 19 percent increase from the previous record-high 156 deaths in 2020, Schumer’s office said. The “epidemic has been made worse by a scourge of fentanyl” in Syracuse and across upstate New York, the senator added.
“I’ve already talked to the White House about this and I am confident we can get bipartisan support for this supercharge, as well, because we are seeing this as a national trend in many ways, transcending ideology and the like,” Schumer said.
An additional $3.2 billion for the National Drug Control Strategy would boost the total pot to $42.5 billion, per Schumer’s office.
With the overall boost in funding, Schumer said Onondaga County would “absolutely” receive more funding to help combat the “pandemic-fueled increases” in opioid addiction.