Suffolk County to release shocking drug report

  Eyewitness NewsSUFFOLK COUNTY (WABC) -- Suffolk County District Attorney Tom Spota will unveil a 98-page Grand Jury report Thursday detailing astonishing statistics of an epic drug crisis on Long Island.

Eyewitness News has exclusively obtained a copy of the report.

Months ago, in response to the Father's Day 2011 massacre at Medford's Haven Drugs, Spota empanelled a special grand jury to look into the problems of opiate abuse and doctor shopping. The investigation has yielded indictments against 26 people, for the following:

Sale and possession of controlled substances Vehicular assault Vehicular manslaughter Driving while ability impaired Criminal possession of forged instrument

Perhaps more important than the indictments are the startling numbers detailed in the report, including the following:

Between 2006 and 2010, Suffolk heroin arrests rose 170 percent, from 486 to 1,315. Suffolk County has seen 70 percent more prescriptions for oxycodone than the average for any other state. Between 2004 and 2011, the number of overdose victims with oxycodone in their blood jumped 266 percent. In the same time period, the number of overdose deaths attributed to opioids increased 69 percent. Between 1996 and 2011, the Suffolk County Drug Court treatment program saw a 425 percent increase in heroin abuse, and a 1,136 percent increase in opioid pill abuse.

The report goes on to make a series of recommendations for how to reverse the trend, including statutory and regulatory changes at the federal, state and local levels; modifying the FDA process of authorizing prescription opioids for manufacturing, marketing, and labeling; and at the state level enacting E-Prescribing rather than written prescriptions.

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