8 MARCH 9 - MARCH 15, 2018 BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP
Local pol looks to implement
opioid education in city schools
“I believe that educating from
an early age is the best way to
combat the disease of addiction
– knowledge is power."
— Councilmember Justin Brannan
BY MEAGHAN MCGOLDRICK
MMCGOLDRICK@BROOKLYNREPORTER.COM
Councilmember Justin Brannan
on Tuesday, February 27 announced
the birth of two new
bills focused on battling the opioid
epidemic by bringing education on it
to schools.
The bills — both of which look to
address the fact that opioid education
is not currently taught in New York
City public schools — were introduced
in a joint hearing held by the Committees
on General Welfare and Mental
Health, Disabilities and Addictions.
"When I was a kid, we were taught
about the dangers of the drugs that
were wreaking havoc in our city such
as crack cocaine," Brannan said. "Now
that we have another crisis on our hands,
why aren’t we teaching kids about how
dangerous these drugs are? We should
also be teaching kids how to spot warning
signs in their peers so they can help
those who have become addicted."
The first bill is a resolution calling
upon the New York City Department of
Education (DOE) to update their curriculum
to include drug awareness
education concerning opioids (since,
Brannan said, the city cannot add to
school curriculum without permission
from the state). The second, he
said, is a local law to amend the New
York City charter to require the New
York City Department of Youth and
Community Development to produce
educational materials — to be distributed
at the beginning of each academic
year — on opiates for city schools.
"Kids are pretty smart. Unfortunately,
right now some just don’t
know how easy it is to get hooked or
how misusing prescription drugs can
send them very quickly down a very
dark path," Brannan said. "If we provide
the right information, I have no
doubt it will save some lives. I believe
that educating from an early age is
the best way to combat the disease of
addiction – knowledge is power."
According to the National Institute
on Drug Abuses, most individuals
with a substance abuse problem begin
using before they turn 18. Research
done by the National Center for Health
Studies shows that drug overdoses in
youths ages 15-19 are highest for opioid
usage.
Brannan's bills already have
backing.
"The earlier we educate young people
about the science of addiction and
the consequences of their actions the
better our chances are for preventing
them from making bad choices. Education
is a critical component of our fight
against the opioid epidemic and I thank
Councilmember Brannan for taking
the lead on this issue," said Brooklyn
District Attorney Eric Gonzalez. "We
know that students make better decisions
when they are informed, we’ve
seen smoking rates plummet in recent
years. Now it is time for schools to
address addiction, starting with prescription
drugs, which are so often a
pathway to addiction."
"It’s refreshing to see a push for such
an important issue to be addressed
in schools. In my history working in
the chemical dependency field, many
schools and administrations feared
that addressing drugs suggested there
was a drug problem in the school,"
added Mike Buckley, director of
operations at the Resource Training
Center, a leading outpatient chemical
dependency program with a base in
Brannan's district. "The issue with that
was that it left students learning about
drugs primarily from friends and other
individuals that would steer them
toward using rather than away. The
drugs have been there. Not talking
about them just allows the problem
to spread."
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