Hearing on heroin, prescription drug use today

State Sen. Phil Boyle has scheduled a public hearing Wednesday on heroin and prescription drug use.

The hearing is to begin at 11 a.m. at the Suffolk County Community College in Brentwood, in the Van Nostrand Theater. Boyle (R-Bay Shore) is chairman of the Senate’s Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Committee.

According to the release, a government study shows 620,000 Americans admitted using heroin last year, twice the number from 2003. A recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states prescription drug abuse is the fastest growing drug problem in the United States. Every day in the United States, 2,500 people between the ages of 12 and 17 abuse a prescription pain reliever for the first time, the study found.

“I believe it is imperative to change current state laws and policies to better protect children from these life-destroying drugs,” Boyle said in the release.