VOCAL-NY calls on New York State and Governor Hochul to prioritize funding for Harm Reduction programs and an End to the War on Drugs NEW YORK – Today, amidst an overdose crisis that claimed a predicted 6,677 lives in New York State in 2022, VOCAL-NY has joined a national coalition of more than 130 organizations comprised of public health […]
VOCAL-NY is proud to join a list of more than 130 organizations representing advocates and experts from public health, overdose prevention, and drug policy across the nation in releasing a roadmap on how states should spend $50 billion in opioid settlement funds. Public health expertscall on states, counties, and municipalities to invest 100% of these
For the majority of my life, from Buffalo to Brooklyn, I’ve been walking over dead bodies. Every day, 17 New Yorkers are lost to the same crisis: preventable overdose. Each person we lose has their own story, their own loved ones and their own past. But until New York State takes action to combat these
Jasmine Budnella, policy director for the progressive VOCAL-NY, said that she is pleased to see both chambers take some sort of action on the measure, adding the timeline gives advocates more time to mobilize on the issue before the legislative session ends in June. “Given that we’re losing so many people, now is the time
TIMES UNION: LEGISLATURE VOICES SOME SUPPORT FOR OVERDOSE PREVENTION CENTERS: Read More »
The Senate Democrats are proposing adding $40 million to the governor’s proposal to spend on recommendations from the settlement board, including overdose prevention center programs and services. A similar investment was not included in the one-house budget proposal by the Assembly Democrats, according to VOCAL-NY, which supports the centers. Read More
CaPITOL PRESS ROOM: Senate Dems endorse overdose prevention centers: Read More »
“The Governor’s answer to the worst overdose crisis in New York’s history is to increase penalties for fentanyl and drug-induced homicide laws that only advance the War on Drugs, rather than the fight to save lives,” said Jawanza Williams, director of organizing for VOCAL-NY, an advocacy group. “Most egregious of all: Hochul’s complete omission of
GOTHAM GAZETTE: What Wasn’t in Hochul’s 2023 State of the State Agenda: Read More »
Jasmine Budnella, the director of policy for VOCAL-NY, a drug-user advocacy group, applauded the investment in drug-checking technology and pointed to its pilot use at New York City’s two safe injection sites, also referred to as overdose prevention centers, where staff have been utilizing drug-checking technology to screen users’ samples. Advocates are still disappointed in
TIMES UNION: Cautious policies for opioid crisis miss the mark, advocates say: Read More »
Last year, a state panel tasked with determining how to spend over $2 billion in settlement funds from drug companies that had a role in the addiction crisis recommended that some of that money should fund the supervised injection sites. But the governor’s administration rejected that proposal. State Office of Addiction Services and Support Commissioner Chinazo
CITY & STATE: Will hochul come around on supervised injection sites?: Read More »
NEW YORK CITY — The true scope of New York City’s fatal overdose problem for the past two years remains unknown because city officials have dragged their feet on the literal life-and-death data, advocates charged. The city needs to release fatal overdose numbers from three months of 2021 and all of 2022, advocates with VOCAL-NY
PATCH: NYC Stalls Vital OD Data, Puts Safe Injection Sites At Risk: Read More »
New York’s $2.5 billion in opioid settlement money is no “windfall.” It’s not something that happened to drop in our laps by happy accident. That money was earned through human misery. The funds were handed over by opioid manufacturers and distributors who profited from others’ addiction, but they’re not the ones who paid. The price
TIMES UNION: EDITORIAL: ACTION ON OPIODS Read More »
