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Vol. 32, No. 6
September 8, 2016
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Lighting the way Can you hear me? Sen. Schumer urges cell cos. to address service issues
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Photo by Nora Milligan
A woman, Nicole, sits on the grass in Port Jefferson remembering those who were lost to and those who survived heroin addiction.
Port Jefferson gears up for Dragon Boat Race Festival Also: PJ Doc series returns, Gallery North hosts Outdoor Art Show & Music Festival
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Lights of Hope honors those battling addiction REBECCA ANZEL When Daniel Scofield died in 2011 from a heroin overdose, his mother Dori decided to do something. “I wasn’t going to keep [his death] under the carpet,” she said. “I just said, ‘I’ve got to bring this out into the world. My son was my life and I’m not going to bury his addiction with him. I have to help others. I have to bring awareness.’” In April 2014, the founder of Save-A-Pet Animal Rescue and Adoption Center started Dan’s Foundation for Recovery, a not-forprofit organization that provides assistance to those suffering from alcohol or substance abuse. The group uses its donations to help an
addict get help — it assists addicts in covering insurance copayments, treatment and travel costs to recovery centers in other states. Scofield co-hosted Lights of Hope Aug. 31 at Memorial Park in Port Jefferson. The event, which is in its third year, brought together families and friends to remember those who died from a drug overdose and to support those who are recovering from drug addiction. The event’s other co-host was Public Relations Director Debbie Gross Longo of the New York Chapter of Magnolia New Beginnings, an advocacy, education, support and addiction resource group. “Each year, unfortunately the crowd gets bigger,” Longo said. “We lose about 129 kids a day
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throughout the United States. This is something that is an epidemic. It has gotten out of control and there’s no reason for it.” Longo’s son was a soccer player at Ward Melville High School. He was so talented, she said, he was being scouted by colleges. That was before he tore his quadriceps. The doctors at John T. Mather Memorial Hospital in Port Jefferson prescribed him oxycodone, and he became addicted. The price per pill of oxycodone is expensive — about $45 each, Longo said. So he switched to heroin, a much less expensive but more potent drug. Before long, his personality began to change. “The changes happened pretty quickly until I couldn’t ignore it any
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longer, and that’s when he went to rehab,” she said. “It didn’t work the first time, it didn’t work the second time and it didn’t work the third time.” Longo said her son is now living in a sober community in Florida helping other addicts get into recovery. According to a 2015 New York State Opioid Poisoning, Overdose and Prevention report, there were 337 heroin-related deaths in Suffolk County between 2009 and 2013 — more than any other county in the state during that period. In a brief speech at the Lights for Hope event, Scofield stressed the importance of helping those
LIGHTS OF HOPE continued on page A13
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