The beauty of local government is that the slate of elected officials tend to represent their districts, towns, and counties in highly accurate ways. Not only is constituent service the true bread and butter of these positions, but retail politics goes a long way. Residents expect to vote for their representatives and hear from them as well. Additionally, there is much more benefit of the doubt given to these officials as they live in the very communities they represent.
Essentially, there tends to be much more about which we agree than what we disagree, owing almost solely to the sanctity of local politics. In that vein, many issues are so common-sense, and our electeds treat them as such, that the cooperation puts Washington to shame. This is where we can thank Congressman Nick LaLota and Andrew Garbarino for their undying devotion to hyper local issues in an increasingly divided and nationalized chamber.
However, there are some issues for which divided consensus is almost unconscionable.
You would think the ongoing opioid crisis would be one of them.
This isn’t to say one side is necessarily for or against the handling of the crisis. This week’s bills presented to Albany by Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney and company have seen levels of bipartisan support.
But what makes us scratch our heads and re-read our lines carefully is that such an issue has seen monumental foot-dragging and procrastination from Albany, it almost makes you wonder how much of the crisis is intentionally allowed to continue.
Although we here at The Messenger tend to suffer from “Broken Record” syndrome, we will allow our symptoms to flare up yet again: the 2019 bail law changes were, in many ways, disastrous for our communities. Look no further than the technicalities required to hold bail for drug dealers responsible for selling drugs that clock fatalities. As discussed at last Thursday’s Hauppauge press conference (see page 3), New York bail law requires a set amount of fentanyl to be dealt and/or possessed to warrant a hold on bail. However, the speakers at the conference noted that just an infinitesimal amount of said bail-eligible amount of fentanyl can be fatal.
The proponents of such laws uphold them with the criminals in mind. Sure, we can work towards common sense rehabilitation goals. Sure, we want to ensure the justice system gives everyone a fair shot. And sure, not everyone should be defined by their pasts.
But maybe there are some people who should be defined by their pasts and mistakes, because for some families, that is always how a said convict’s existence will always be interpreted in the wake of a family member unsuspectingly taken by a mere speck of a fatal substance.
The American justice system is excellent in that it assumes innocence until guilt is proven; we don’t ask for that to change. But not everyone can be given the benefit of the doubt. It doesn’t mean we’ve resorted to cruel and oppressive means of extricating justice, it just means we value the safety of our communities over the mountains of cash to be made by drug kingpins. The pendulum has swung so far in the opposite direction of an overly-eager justice system that far too many innocent people are paying the price for it.
And what a better time to give drug dealers the benefit of the doubt, as xylazine, otherwise known as “Tranq,” is not on the state’s controlled substance list, according to lawmakers.
To reiterate: xylazine is a cattle sedative that is currently being used to increase the effects – and thereby, deadliness – of fentanyl.
Cattle sedative.
The DEA warns that almost 25% of fentanyl powder and 7% of fentanyl pills seized contain Tranq. Since xylazine is not an opioid, its overdose effects cannot be reversed by Narcan. Furthermore, xylazine is also responsible for necrosis, the death of skin cells, which has earned Tranq a reputation as a flesh-rotting “zombie drug.”
Again, cattle sedative.
How perverse have we become that this is what the biggest fears are?
And yet, Albany’s deafening silence regarding a state – and a county – consistently gripped with opioid addiction does not fall on deaf ears of our communities.
Sparing criminals’ feelings and delaying in amending bail laws to retain repeat offenders is a dereliction of duty and a miscarriage of justice.
