>> good morning, and welcome to "long island viewpoint." i'm michelle charlesworth. today we bring you information on the heroin epidemic, with the dea reporting that the amount of heroin seized each year at the border increased 232% between 2008 and 2012. we also will be discussing the new 2015 able act that establishes a new way for people with disabilities to save for their future without jeopardizing government benefits. but, first, mothers against drunk driving, also known as madd, as you know, is the nation's largest nonprofit working facility to protect families from drunk and drugged driving and underage drinking. did you know that alcohol use

among teens kills about 5,000 people every single year? and about 30% of eighth graders have tried alcohol, and one in six teens binge drink. joining us in the studio from madd are richard mallow, the new york state executive director, dr. dawn marie nappi, legislative board member for long island, and sarah haiken, the youth committee chair for long island. thank you so much for making time for us. talk to us, mr. mallow, about the services that madd brings to people and what that costs. >> first, let me preface everything by saying all the services to victims that madd provides we provide free of charge. we don't charge anything for any of the services that we have. we have victim services, people on long island and albany and also in upstate new york, to the west, towards buffalo. and these services are everything from working with

been killed or injured by drunk or drugged drivers, and we walk them through the process of the courts, through the process of counseling, bereavement, and more important, when the court system is done and everything's been adjudicated, we're with these families for as long as they want. there's no time limit like with most counseling and most outreach. we're there for a very, very long time. >> but is this all pro bono? you need donations, don't you? >> we need donations. >> that's the thing. >> we raise money through walk and through mass mailings specific to new york. the money that is generated in new york stays in new york. we have a walk in westchester county, as a matter of fact, on sunday this week at rye playland, so we're very excited about that.

we are forever in dire need of financial support so... >> because, unfortunately, you're needed all of the time. >> i mean, just in the last few days, this past weekend, there were five drunk-driving crashes with one fatality. so it's constant. >> and you said it's drugged, as well, with madd as well now. >> absolutely. >> dr. nappi, you lost angelica, your daughter, when she was 14 years old, back in 2008, and that thrust you into all of this. talk about that, if you would, just a little bit. >> after my daughter passed away, i was just catapulted into action to prevent other families from going through what we went through because it was such a horrific tragedy. i never thought that i would recover from that. you know, it was such a shock. a beautiful day, they were going to the movies, 12:18 in the afternoon, and a man who was under the influence of heroin -- he had trace amounts in his system, so it wasn't enough to convict him -- he ran the red light. he was a seven-time repeat

offender. and my daughter died. so it sent us into a tailspin, as you can imagine, and i've become very impassioned about helping other families who have gone through similar tragedies because i want them to know there's a way we can stop this and what we need to do to put an end to it because it's completely preventable. >> what's the most important thing that we can do? >> we have to raise awareness. we have to raise awareness about people underage drinking, the dangers of heroin, getting behind the wheel of a car, the impulsivity -- you know, knowing that there's consequences for somebody's actions. i think, all too often, people don't realize that their actions will affect people in the long range. you know, it never ends for the family of the victims -- never. >> but what happened to the man who hit the car your daughter was in? >> he was sentenced to six months in jail, and he served four months. >> [ sighs ] sarah haiken, you've been volunteering since you were 11 because of something that

happened to your family -- or your family's friend. >> in 2009, my family friend, karen naclerio-negrin, was on her way to work when she was killed by a drunk driver. she left behind a five- and an eight-year-old, and, ever since, i've been watching them grow up without a mother, and it's impassioned to get involved with madd and to stay alcohol-free until i'm 21. >> do you think it's making a difference among your peers? do you think -- i remember, when i was growing up, it was "just say no." "just say no." and it made a big difference for a lot of people. how's the conversation going with people your age? >> i think it's very difficult to always stay true to yourself and to your beliefs and to steer away from what others are doing, but when you find others that share the same commitment with you, it makes it easier. >> dr. nappi, back to you -- how are you working with law enforcement? or is there any way that people can get involved with law enforcement? their hands are tied in a lot of ways, as well. >> well, i've been trying, along with madd, for the past seven years, to enforce stricter legislation for people who drive under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and, you know, it's been a fight.

it's been a continuous struggle. it passes -- the bills pass in the senate, and then they stall in the assembly, and there seems to be no reason why that's happening. it should be a no-brainer. but we're determined to fight and to keep on going because we need to have some positive change. >> can you talk a little bit about the power of you(th) program, mr. mallow? >> well, actually, i'm gonna pass that over to sarah because she is actually the chair of that committee. >> perfect. >> so, power of you(th) is just focusing on high-school students and middle-school students -- anyone under 21 -- who have to experience the constant peer pressure to get involved with alcohol even though it is illegal to drink. so the power of you(th), they have a presentation where it's just educating teens about the dangers of underage drinking, and i am fortunate enough that i get to give that presentation to high-school students across long island. >> are you guy still doing a lot of videos? do you still put the cars that have been smashed-up on the front lawn of schools? talk about that a little bit

because i know that a lot of this is -- being scared straight really works. >> i know my school district does that, especially towards prom season, just so that teenagers understand that the impact that they have and the decisions they make today will impact their future and trying to gear us straight towards what we do later on. >> well, what would your advice be to other young people out there who want to get involved at the high-school level or even after that or even before that? >> well, it's very difficult sometimes when you're going away from what the "norm" is, but i think just staying true to yourself and know that you're doing the right thing and that you're making a difference. because even if you just save or help one person, you're changing an entire world. and just focusing on that, you have the positive implementations that will come from it. >> and, dr. nappi, anything to say to parents out there in terms of advice? >> no one is immune to tragedy. it could happen to anyone, and, unfortunately, it's happening so much that we all need to band together, and we need to do something about changing our legislation.

>> it's got to take the laws first. >> absolutely. there has to be stricter consequences for people. >> that's unbelievable that the man who hit the car your daughter was in served, what, four months you said? >> four months. >> four months. >> and our sentence is a lifetime. >> that's it. that's the reality. thank you all for spending time with us this morning -- very important topic. >> our pleasure. >> both: thank you. >> we're gonna come right back with information on the heroin epidemic in long island and the organization addiction care interventions.

you can't see both at the same time. your trihonda dealers remind you to put down your device

>> welcome back to "long island viewpoint." i'm michelle charlesworth. according to the cdc, drug-poisoning deaths with heroin went up 45% in this country between 2006 and 2010. in long island, it has become so bad that queens district attorney richard brown dubbed the long island expressway the "heroin highway."

addiction care interventions, also known as aci, we have warren d. zysman, the c.e.o. and chief program officer, and asa scott, the clinical director. thank you both so much for talking about this. this is important to talk about. heroin has killed a record number of people on long island this year, something like 144 deaths. is that right? can that be right? >> unfortunately, it's 100% right. we've seen a tremendous spike in heroin use. it's directly related to folks abusing pain medications like oxycodone, percocets, that they get described from their doctors. >> and we were just talking moments ago -- a couple of years ago, it was more like 70 deaths? >> yeah, the rise in the number of deaths for heroin is actually really frightening, and this is about access to the medication. for example, children are having these "pharm" parties, where they go home, they pour out the contents of their parents' medicine cabinet, and they ingest it.

they're ingesting vicodin, percocets, oxycodone, and they're becoming dependent upon it. and when that dependency rises and they don't have access to the medication anymore, they go to the street, and they start to buy heroin as a way to deal with the withdrawal symptoms. >> so if they were to go to the street and try to buy the same thing that they found in the medicine cabinet, how much would that cost -- like a vicodin, oxycodone, something like that? >> vicodin and oxycodone are selling for about $25 on the street for a pill, versus $5 a bag for heroin, and that's why they're turning to heroin. it's not that that's what they wanted to pursue, but when they get hooked and they feel sick, they get flu-like symptoms, intense pain, like their bone is shattering under their skin, they want relief, the quickest possible, and they turn to the drug dealers. it's $5 a bag for heroin. >> so, what is the rationale here, though? you know, one is from a doctor, from a pharmacy -- one is legal -- and then the other is illegal, and they know that people get hooked on heroin. it doesn't matter? >> well, a lot of the young

folks we find that are coming in for treatment with us, about 30% of our population here in new york city is from long island. they're coming to us 'cause we have a treatment service called suboxone. we're one of the few providers in new york state that accept insurance for this treatment service. and what's happening is the young people are taking medication mostly out of their parents' medicine cabinets. they get hooked on it. they're going to the parties like ms. scott had just shared. and it doesn't take a lot of use to get hooked, and so, once they get hooked, they're turning to less expensive options. one of the most scary things that we're seeing is it's affecting all communities, we're seeing a huge spike in middle-class communities, and we're seeing a lot of intravenous drug use. and people would say, "wow, why would that be happening in a long island?" and what happens is, once you get hooked, the quickest way to relieve the pain is get high in the quickest way possible, and intravenous drug use is what a turning to.

cases, were high-school honors students coming in as intravenous drug users, and it's very difficult for the families to accept and to seek help. so one of the things that we would advise to families is that, if you see that your kid is not doing as well as they used to do in school or you get that feeling that things aren't right, bring them and get a professional assessment, get them drug tested, identify there's a problem, and we can get them help. >> where would you go, to a primary-care physician? where does a parent take a kid like that would you say? >> yeah, a lot of the parents will actually come to us. they will call us for information because they recognize that something is wrong with their children. what warren says is really, really important. you start to detect that something is actually not right with your child, you send them for an assessment with a specialist. a lot of programs -- for example, in new york state, oasas -- licensed treatment programs that can do assessment for these sort of diseases and issues, for example, addictive diseases. one of the things that happens with someone who starts to use opiates -- they feel the

withdrawal symptoms, and this is why the withdrawal symptoms start to manifest itself in many ways. they start to lose weight, they start to become irritable, they're sweaty, they're uncomfortable in social -- >> there are physical signs. >> absolutely, especially with opiate withdrawals. and opiate withdrawals is also very deadly. it's one of the two withdrawal symptoms that one of the withdrawal symptoms can actually kill you, and that's why a lot of parents are really scared when they do see some of these symptoms, and they have to get medical attention as soon as possible. warren talked about the suboxone program that we do treat -- we do use as part of the treatment approaches at aci. that is lifesaving. i have seen folks who come into our facility in physical depressive states because they are actually going through a lot of the withdrawal symptoms. they're having diarrhea, anxiety, they're sweaty, and you can actually go into cardiac arrest if you don't get the opiate fix that you actually need. we treat them with suboxone, which actually helps to address

some of the withdrawal symptoms and also decreases the cravings that one will have to go out there and use heroin again. >> and does that cure it? i mean, i don't want to use that word, but does that really help? >> well, what it does is it puts the individual seeking help in a position to win. so suboxone has an agonist, which is blockers that block 86 of the 88 receptors in the brain that opiates attach to. so, what happens? if you have a typical young person who's coming in, they may not really have the strong desire to quit. they may have a family member or a loved one who's brought them in. starting this medication, within 24 hours, they can't get high off of heroin anymore. so, what does that do? well, when they're receiving counseling services -- group, individual, family counseling over at our agency -- they're able to not use drugs, so they're not high, and they're able to benefit and learn skills, and we can work with a person who's not intoxicated. the hardest thing early on in terms of treating someone on an

intoxicated, it's very limited, if at all, any of the success you could have. so suboxone really puts that person in a position to be successful in counseling and get on track. people typically stay on it somewhere between three to six months, and then we work on tapering them down. >> wow. >> one of the things that warren just actually talked is very important. the drugs are only a part of the problem, which is why treatment is very important. addiction is a psychological and also a physiological disease, and, oftentimes, people would only want to treat the actual drug use, but not knowing you have to treat the actual person, as well -- address the psychological triggers as to why you're using, the environment, what are you feeling on the inside that led to the dependence in the first place. so those are all the important things why someone would need to come into treatment and not just take, for example, suboxone and then be cured. that's the first step. it's not the end-all. >> so important to treat the entire illness and the person in its totality. thank you so much for coming in to talk about this. >> yeah.

>> so, for information on all of the organizations featured on "viewpoint" and if you've missed part of the show and want to see it at your leisure, do visit us at abc7ny/viewpoint. we'll be right back with sanys and how new legislation will impact the disabled in our communities and the need for some financial planning.

>> welcome back to "long island viewpoint." i'm michelle charlesworth. the federal government recently enacted the 2015 able act, establishing a new way for people with disabilities to save for their future without jeopardizing their government benefits. it's a complex piece of legislation -- soon will become the law in new york state. organizations like

self advocacy in new york state, also known as sanys, are working to help the disabled cope with this new law and work with it. joining us today to talk about this are stony brook attorney regina brandow of the law firm brandow law, who is an authority on the subject, bridget cariello, the supervising coordinator at sanys, and shawn nitz, an as well. thank you so much for coming in to talk about this. what? >> achieving a better life experience. >> and this is about to become law here in new york? >> yes, it passed the house and senate, and we're just waiting for governor cuomo to put his pen to paper. lot. what is the most important thing families with people with special needs need to know about the able act? >> the able act means a lot to people with disabilities. it actually enables them to open up a savings account on their own. i don't know if you know this, but if you're on social security income, you are limited in your resources. you're limited up to $2,000.

disabilities that work and want to save or if families want to save for their children, they are limited when that child becomes 18 and is receiving medicaid or social security income. now they would be able to have their own savings account, save in order to buy a car, assistive technology, a big television, or like shawn here, he would like to start his own yogurt business. >> oh. there you go. well, bridget, tell us why this is so important to your organization, first of all. >> well, our organization is sanys, and, at sanys, we support leaders like shawn, who have developmental and other disabilities, to speak up for themselves. so, passing able would be critical to help people to have greater choice and independence in what they want to do with their money and their daily living. >> so this has to do with autonomy and success down the road. >> absolutely. >> this is not an unlimited amount of money. i know that -- we were talking

sort of like a tax shelter, a 529, something that can allow this saved money to grow. could you talk about that a little bit? account. it actually is called a 529a account. >> oh, okay. >> the irs has actually promulgated some regulations on it, and it limits the amount of money that you can save, up to $14,000 and, cumulatively, $100,000. but there is a payback provision, so when the there is a medicaid payback provision, so those who are receiving medicaid benefits, they will have a payback provision on it. >> and, shawn, you are on medicaid, is that right? >> yes. >> so you want to be able to save a little bit, have a little nut. is this eventually to get off of all of this assistance, or is this just to be able to sort of coexist with it? >> a little extra. >> a little extra, okay. and you want to run a --

>> frozen yogurt shop. >> gotcha. >> shawn's famous frozen yogurt it's gonna be called. >> oh, i love it. there you go. there you go. and this is a great idea why -- this ability to have the money work for you, money that you've been earning on your own? >> because we don't want to be limited to what can save in our savings. we want to be able to save what we can save and be like everybody else and save as much as we can and not have to take $2,000 and, if you go over, to spend it. that doesn't make any sense. i don't agree with that. so we got to ask our legislators and the government -- you know, it's not gonna pass without us. we want. it shouldn't be about what the government wants for us. we should have that freedom to choose what we want to do with our money. >> now, are you able to do that on your own, or does someone like shawn have to go to attorneys and financial planners, at this point, to do the right thing? and will that continue to be the case? >> i would recommend, depending upon where the money is coming from and how the money is going

to be used, that shawn actually avail himself to both an attorney and a financial advisor. an attorney would tell him what his options are. besides the able act, which has some restrictions that we already reviewed, there are other options like a spend-down or perhaps a supplemental needs trust, depending upon where the money came from. in regard to a financial advisor, if he worked so hard for his money, obviously you want to make sure that whatever account that you're putting it decrease. >> are these gonna be modest gains, or is this -- what kind of a -- and does he have to of go on its own? >> well, it all depends upon the individual. so shawn could be his own account owner and also the beneficiary, where some other individuals with disabilities perhaps may be the beneficiary but cannot be the account owner,

could be the account owner. so, working with a financial advisor, they could set up a strategy for -- an investment strategy. >> and, bridget, how does the sales advocacy work? >> oh, how does self advocacy -- >> self advo- pardon me. i misspoke -- self advocacy work? >> well, that organization was actually started about 30 years ago when bernard carabello, a civil rights leader, worked with geraldo rivera -- actually on an abc news expo -- to close willowbrook. >> right, right. >> yeah, so, our organization works very hard to support people like shawn and others to be at the table, be part of the community, to be equal stakeholders, and to make sure that people are involved in the implementation of laws such as this and other policies, not just part of getting feedback and providing feedback, but actually becoming part of the community and the policy itself. it's their life, you know, so

aspect of it. >> sure. for families like shawn's family, for people like shawn, what is the best way that they can get in touch with people to help them with the able act and getting involved with that? >> well, after it is enacted, you could probably contact your local bar association and make sure that you are going to be speaking with an attorney that's well-versed in not only trust and estates and also the able act, but the disability aspect of it. >> is that gonna be more money out of pocket for those families, though? >> no, not necessarily. there's going to be -- there's a lot of attorneys that are available for consultation in regard to the able act that is affordable. >> okay. all right. fair enough. thank you. it's gonna help a lot of people. good luck. >> not gonna pass without us. >> good luck. >> thank you. >> thank you so much. thank you. >> thank you. >> i'm michelle charlesworth. again, we thank you for being with us.