Opinion: Leading the charge in the fight against opioid addiction

National Opioid Awareness Day is a time for remembrance, prevention and action. In 2024, more than 80,000 people in the United States lost their lives to drug overdoses, including an estimated 4,567 New Yorkers. Every one of these deaths was preventable, and so the mission is clear: we must take measures to confront the opioid crisis head-on. This includes promoting prevention, increasing access to treatment and breaking the stigma that surrounds addiction. By fostering awareness, we can create an environment where seeking treatment is met with compassion and living in recovery is commended.

As chair of the Alcoholism and Substance Use Disorders Committee, I have championed the use of evidence-based practices to reduce overdoses and opioid-related deaths, which include:

• Expanding access to life-saving medications like naloxone, buprenorphine, and methadone;
• Increasing the availability of drug-checking tools, including fentanyl and xylazine test strips;
• Prohibiting jails and prisons from barring entrance to peer recovery advocates; and
• Fighting against cuts to proven prevention, treatment and recovery services.

These measures are making a difference. After years of record-breaking overdose deaths, New York saw a 32% drop in 2024. But our work is far from over. That decline has been seen only among white New Yorkers, while our Black and Brown neighbors continue to die at disproportionate rates.

Further, we are now facing unprecedented federal funding cuts and a dangerous shift toward treating substance use as a criminal justice issue rather than a public health crisis. We cannot afford to lose ground. We must protect and expand the programs we know are saving lives.

That is why I’ve introduced legislation to increase funding and access to effective opioid prevention, treatment and recovery initiatives. Some have pointed to the opioid settlement funds as a backstop for the impending federal cuts. However, those dollars are earmarked and legally cannot replace general state funding. To ensure these funds are not being used incorrectly, I passed legislation this year to increase transparency about where the money goes and how it gets used.

Instead of the opioid settlement funds, I propose redirecting the opioid tax and establishing an alcohol excise tax to fund vital programs. While cannabis taxes are directed into the Drug Treatment and Public Education Fund, the same is not true for taxes on opioids or alcohol. Due to a technical error, the opioid tax currently goes into the state’s general fund, where it can be used for projects that are not related to preventing opioid overdoses and deaths. Alcohol, despite being a significant contributor to numerous health issues and deaths, has no excise tax at all. My plan ensures that the revenue from these addictive substances is used to support those harmed by such substances, the same as cannabis.

These funds can support proven programs and new initiatives I am proposing, including:

• Codifying the NYS Department of Health’s enhanced drug checking programs, and providing legal protections for health workers and participants using these services;
• Exploring emerging treatments like psilocybin- and ibogaine-assisted therapies;
• Supporting novel proposals such as  in-home treatment models and Recovery Ready Workplaces; and
• Expanding access to overdose response kits and xylazine wound care kits.

By doing this, we are not only saving lives, but saving the State money by avoiding costly healthcare.

On this National Opioid Awareness Day, let’s honor those we’ve lost to the opioid crisis by taking the steps to end preventable overdoses and deaths. Because every New Yorker deserves the chance to thrive.