Letter to Michael Botticelli, National Director of Drug Control Policy - Drug Trafficking
Letter
Dear Director Botticelli,
Thank you for your continuous efforts to combat drug abuse throughout the country. The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) has been a vital partner to Congress as we work to curtail drug abuse across the nation. Since its creation in 1988, the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program run by the ONDCP has been highly successful combating abusive outbreaks of a variety of dangerous drugs. Today, I write to ask for help from the HIDTA program. In my home state of New York, Rockland County is experiencing a public health crisis.
The use of heroin has skyrocketed over the past several years, and is harming citizens throughout the county. In Rockland County in 2012, local law enforcement officials seized prescription drugs and/or heroin on 147 different occasions. Rockland's close proximity to New York City also makes it extremely susceptible to drug trafficking; in January 2013, 28 people in Rockland County were charged for various drug offenses, as the result of an undercover investigation into drug trafficking across the county. Unfortunately, drug addicts have turned to heroin as a cheaper, more accessible alternative than prescription drugs such as oxycodone. I ask that the ONDCP designate Rockland County as a HIDTA in order to help curb this emerging dilemma.
I understand that Rockland County has submitted an application to become a HIDTA-designated county, and I urge you to seriously consider their application. The NY/NJ HIDTA has been essential to areas of New York that have been ravaged by heroin and opioid abuse, acting as a powerful resource for counties that are looking for new innovative ways to prevent drug abuse. In New York City, HIDTA's work in partnership with NYC Department of Health, the NYPD, DEA and other partners has helped grow and develop the RxStat program, which has become a model for the country in how to use overdose data and other technological resources. With HIDTA's support and guidance, they are now working to share these ideas and approaches with areas all across the state, and HIDTA designated counties will be in the best position to use and embrace these ideas.
Again, thank you for your dedicated efforts to keep the citizens of New York and the United States healthy and safe and I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Sincerely,
Charles E. Schumer
U.S. Senator
Source