I

t’s good to see Sullivan County District Attorney Brian Conaty champion the call to combat opioid addiction and overdose in our county.

On Friday he announced an expanded Quick Response Team–a group of specialists that will respond to a drug overdose situation and point the individual or family to resources that help with addiction (see story on page 1).

This initiative is in partnership with the District Attorney’s Office, the Village of Liberty Police Department and Hope Not Handcuffs, and will bring together local law enforcement, public health agencies, treatment providers and social service organizations. 

DA Conaty noted that the newly expanded team will reach everybody in Sullivan County, and that the opioid epidemic needs a coordinated response. 

We couldn’t agree more–it truly takes a village. 

In recent years Sullivan County was at the forefront of the opioid crisis in the state–named as having the highest amount of overdose incidents per capita in all of New York.

However, the numbers are looking up. 

It was just in 2022 that the county was called the “epicenter” of the drug crisis, but the following year it moved from being the highest overdose rate per capita in the state to third.

Let’s hope the numbers continue to improve. 

At the same time, New York State is distributing funds to counties, cities and other subdivisions from settlements with entities involved in the manufacturing, distributing and selling of opioids.

We hope that Sullivan County can put these funds to good use, and find proactive ways to remediate the harm done by opioids, and that they listen to the experts who know best practices.