Assemblyman Sam Pirozzolo (R,C-Staten Island) testified before the Opioid Settlement Fund Advisory Board on Monday. During his testimony, Pirozzolo pointed out that Staten Island has unfairly been left out of the $1.5 billion settlement drug companies are paying toward overdose prevention resources across the state. Pirozzolo will introduce legislation in Albany if this lack of funding to Staten Island is not immediately addressed by the advisory board.
“Once again, Staten Island is the forgotten borough in the allocation of this settlement fund,” said Pirozzolo. “Drug use and tragic overdose deaths don’t fall into a formula, and they don’t exclusively happen in areas with a publicly-funded hospital, they happen all across our state, and unfortunately occur right here in our neighborhoods. That is why I was proud to testify in front of the advisory board today so they can change the language within their recommendation and make sure the fund is allocated in an equitable way to provide critical resources for our community.”
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