MAY 18, 2015, BUFFALO, NEW YORK- Senator Chuck Schumer is
pushing to reverse President Obama’s proposed budgetary cuts to the anti-drug
trafficking program known as HIDTA. In a press conference Monday at Buffalo
Police Headquarters, Schumer was joined by Mayor Byron Brown and Police Commissioner
Daniel Derenda as he outlined the impact these cuts would have directly on the
Western New York area.
Flanked by Save the Michaels founders Avi and Julie Israel, Schumer
announced his opposition to the budgetary cuts, along with his own proposal to
request a $100 million increase in funding for the program. Obama’s intended
cuts are surprising, local lawmakers say, considering that heroin use has
increased at record rates across the country, and specifically in Western New
York. Heroin overdose deaths are up 30% since 2013, with 35 deaths in Buffalo
alone so far this year. The need for targeted action against drug traffickers,
officials argue, is greater than ever.
Opponents of HIDTA argue that the program acts as an impetus
for law enforcement to focus their efforts on drug arrests, and draws resources
from other crime investigations. However, statistics show that with increased
drug use, comes an increase in crime across the board. When the financial costs
of already over-burdened addiction treatment services are considered,
prevention becomes even more critical.
The near-epidemic heroin crisis impacts Western New-Yorkers
proportionately across all ethnic groups, and within every socio-economic category,
claims Schumer. No one is immune. The key, he argues, is organizing the focus
on disbanding the drug-rings that facilitate the supply of heroin within our
communities.
HIDTA funds allow federal and local law enforcement to coordinate,
share information, equipment and manpower, all crucial in reversing the deadly
surge in heroin abuse. “In fact,” said Schumer, “we need to increase funding to
programs like HIDTA to get drugs out of our communities.” Law enforcement must
be provided with the proper resources to fight the growing opiate epidemic.
Written and Posted by Keri Lock
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