State task force to battle drug addiction

Sharon Sieczkowski of Massapequa stood before the news media at South Oaks Hospital in Amityville Wednesday and spoke through tears about her son Jonathan, who died of a heroin overdose two years ago at 22.

He began to experiment with drugs in high school and was soon out of control, she said. He was able to get clean for a year and it was a wonderful time.

"But he had a relapse and heroin took my boy," said Sieczkowski, 52.

Sieczkowski belongs to a task force unveiled Wednesday by Assemb. Joseph Saladino (R-Massapequa) that is meant to help parents like her cope with drug-addicted children.

Other members include addiction recovery experts and law enforcement specialists. The mandate is to explore all options, including legislative amendments, to support those fighting to protect their kids from the threat of heroin and prescription opiates.

In announcing his task force, Saladino voiced an urgent plea to parents: Have a frank talk with your kids soon and tell them that if they dabble in heroin and prescription drugs, they'll become addicted and may die.

"This lifesaving conversation must take place before they leave for college or start the new year in high school," Saladino said.

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Saladino introduced a bill earlier this summer that would require parents of high school students to drug test their kids annually and sign a sworn statement that they'd done so. Wednesday he said the bill would be changed and that the testing should be optional so as not to intrude on the privacy of families. One long-term aim of the task force will be to advise him on how to revise the bill, he said.

Task force members Wednesday said there are many questions they plan to ask: Why are there not enough detox beds for adolescents on Long Island? Why are some insurance companies insisting that young people can't be covered for inpatient detox until they've failed an outpatient detox? What can be done to help parents of kids 18 and older who've lost the legal right to compel their children to seek drug treatment?

"There is so much that needs to happen," said task force member Jeffrey Reynolds, director of the Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence. "There is so much that needs to be fixed."