Reynolds: Tragedies stem from addictions

Jeffrey Reynolds is the executive director of the Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence.

After the Father's Day pharmacy murders in Medford, it finally seemed we were going to address Long Island's expanding opiate crisis. The media coverage was nonstop, elected officials held roundtables and news conferences, and new task forces were formed.

But 2011 ended with another pharmacy robbery that turned fatal, this time in Seaford. Why? Because we haven't tackled the tough stuff yet.

That's not to say that some great things haven't been happening over the past six months. A grand jury probe into the availability of painkillers is under way in Suffolk. Task forces in both counties have made thoughtful recommendations, held successful educational conferences and distributed literature to physicians, pharmacists, health care professionals and local residents.

Families are being encouraged to lock up their meds and there are more places to safely drop off and dispose of unused prescriptions. State agencies and professional organizations have launched initiatives to educate and support doctors, most of whom try to do the right thing but are often swayed by addicts who are charming, demanding and laser-focused on getting their fix. And a few doctors -- including some who may have given Medford shooter David Laffer prescriptions -- have been arrested or are being investigated.

But there are a handful of others who are still giving out prescriptions by the fistful and flooding our streets with painkillers. Addicted patients, their families and treatment professionals all know the names, yet these drug dealers stay in business.

State lawmakers promised to limit doctor shopping and pharmacy hopping by strengthening the prescription-drug database to ensure real-time updates and give pharmacists access. That hasn't happened, and what initially seemed like a done deal has become a debate as physicians have complained about the added burden of recording prescriptions and checking the database.

We must ensure access to pain meds for those with legitimate need, but we also have to get far more aggressive about reducing misuse and illegal distribution. And as we do that, we need to simultaneously address the demand side of the equation. Reducing the available supply of painkillers without reducing the demand for them is like squeezing a balloon.

Desperate people who have become physically and psychologically dependent on a drug will do desperate things to get that drug -- life-changing things that rock entire communities. Addiction is a brain disease that, without intervention and treatment, gets progressively worse. But substance abuse is preventable, and addiction is treatable.

To this day -- after two separate incidents leading to multiple fatalities -- none of our elected officials have promised to increase access to drug treatment. Perhaps that's because it would sound sympathetic to the perpetrators or because more prevention programs and addiction services would cost money at a time when resources are scant. Access to treatment has always been tough, but the barriers, which we should be working to reduce, are actually growing by the day.

Two outpatient treatment centers in Nassau have closed in the last six months because of budget cuts. Both Nassau and Suffolk counties, along with New York State, have reduced funding for already struggling nonprofits providing addiction services and prevention programs. Workforce reductions in Nassau and layoffs at the Nassau University Medical Center are bound to hurt patient care. Insurance companies -- with their own set of financial pressures -- are routinely denying coverage for drug treatment, yet ironically seem to have few qualms about paying for huge quantities of opiate painkillers.

Sure, expanding addiction services and prevention programs costs money. But the Seaford and Medford tragedies show us the price we're paying now for untreated addiction.