Suffolk's Top Law Enforcement Officials Turn Out for Drug Treatment Center Opening

Highlighting the impact of fentanyl and other deadly drugs on the community, Suffolk’s three top law enforcement officials, District Attorney Raymond Tierney, Sheriff Errol Toulon, and Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison, turned out for the opening of a drug treatment center in Oakdale.

Family Residences and Essential Enterprises–FREE–supports more than 4,000 individuals with intellectual/developmental disabilities, mental illness, and traumatic brain injury and now has a cutting-edge facility to treat residents with fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, prescription pill, and other addictions. In operation since 1977, the center will provide a unique, comprehensive approach to assist those with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders.

Suffolk’s top law enforcement officials, from left, District Attorney Raymond Tierney, Sheriff Errol Toulon, and Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison, with Nicole Wolf, chief program officer of FREE, at the new treatment center in Oakdale. File Photo

“The overdose crisis in Suffolk is mind-numbing,” District Attorney Tierney said, noting that the county suffered 390 overdose deaths in the last year. He pledged to keep fighting for tougher laws from state leaders on bail reform and a “Death by Dealer” statute. “We’re going to Albany with the families of those who have been impacted by the drug crisis. Maybe they’ll listen to them.”

Tierney recently announced the arrest of the dealers responsible for selling a deadly mix of fentanyl, cocaine, and a new potent drug infiltrating Long Island, Tranq, that killed a 30-year-old mother from Smithtown. A number of the defendants in that case were set free thanks to the state’s cashless bail law. In addition to giving him more teeth to go after dealers, Tierney is pushing to change the eight-ounce threshold necessary for bail on Fentanyl cases and have Tranq listed as a controlled substance.

Sheriff Toulon praised the FREE program, noting that when he started out in corrections on Riker’s Island, there were no outside services to help inmates and their families. He praised the Family Residences and Essential Enterprises program since it also addresses mental illness, which is a major contributing factor to drug abuse.

Harrison, the police commissioner, noted that in addition to the many overdose deaths, there were hundreds of cases where the victims survived, situations that have a terrible effect on their families and the community in general. “The services offered by FREE are essential because they save lives,” he said.

Suffolk’s top law enforcement officials participate in the ribbon cutting for a new drug treatment center in Oakdale. File Photo

“This is a community effort, and this is a community resource, and we will make a change together for the betterment of our community,” said FREE Chief Program Officer Nicole Wolf, who pointed out that addiction is not just a problem here in Suffolk, but across the nation. According to Wolf, the National Institute on Drug Abuse reported that many individuals who develop substance use disorders are also diagnosed with mental health disorders. “This facility addresses the co-occurring link by treating both.”