The Town of North Hempstead hosted a fentanyl community forum Tuesday night to educate the community on the Fentanyl crisis and opioid epidemic in the county, teaching participants about the overdose treatment drug Narcan and handing out overdose prevention kits.

The forum hosted by the town’s Substance Misuse Advisory Council was in partnership with the Long Island Council Against Drug Dependence, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.

Speakers included Assistant United States Attorney Bradley King, Nassau police, healthcare professionals and family members of those who have died of Fentanyl overdoses.

North Hempstead Town Supervisor Jennifer DeSena said that the Fentanyl crisis is a healthcare emergency in which people are being poisoned due to unknowingly ingesting the fatal substance that is laced in many other drugs. She referred to fentanyl as a poison in the community.

“With this new poison, there is no time for addiction, no time for treatment and no time for learning form their mistake,” DeSena said.

At a March 20 press conference, County Executive Bruce Blakeman said 270 overdose-related deaths were reported in Nassau in 2021. Of those deaths, 190 were due to fentanyl, according to Blakeman.

While the 2022 data is not complete yet, Blakeman said that 172 overdose deaths have been reported in 2022 so far. He attributed the apparent decrease in overdose deaths to more access to Narcan throughout the county.

DeSena added that fentanyl overdoses are preventable deaths that can be prevented by the help of the community.

“We all have to learn, we all have to be educated about this poison,” DeSena said.

Executive Director for the Long Island Council Against Drug Dependence Steve Chassman also said that fentanyl deaths are not overdoses but rather poisonings, attributing it the commonality of drug users unknowingly consuming the fatal substance.

He added to DeSena’s sentiments by urging everyone in the community to help in addressing the public health issue of Fentanyl. He referred to the event as “life-saving education,” that can help the community in combatting this issue.

King said that the way to attack public health crises is through education, providing additional information on how the U.S. Attorney’s Office is prosecuting Fentanyl-related cases, the fatality of the drug and the inability to decipher which drugs contain Fentanyl.

“This is the public health emergency of our time,” King said.

While his office is severe in prosecuting cases related to fentanyl deaths, he said it still does not bring people back who have died from overdoses. This is why education is so important.

Carole Trottere shared her personal story about her son’s death due to a heroin-fentanyl overdose. Her son Alex Sutton overdosed in April 2018 at the age of 30.

In the wake of her son’s death, Trottere was devastated with grief. But in November she turned that pain into purpose and has worked to train people in administering Narcan and the fatal effects of fentanyl. Trottere was integral in establishing 50 Narcan kits throughout Nassau County in March.

Drew Scott, a longtime News 12 Long Island anchor, also shared his personal story in losing his granddaughter to an overdose death in September of 2017.

He stressed two points: that drug use and overdoses can afflict any family, and that it needs to be talked about in order to beat the stigma.

“It is embarrassing but if you want a good name, you warn other families so it doesn’t happen to them,” Scott said.

With about 20 people in attendance for the event, many chairs were left empty. Chassman said that those empty chairs represent the people who are unable to hear their message due to stigma or fear.

“So everyone’s task tonight is take a Narcan kit, make a phone call when you leave here, go to your Starbucks tomorrow and share this information that you heard from Nassau County Police, that you heard from the U.S. Attorney, that you heard from a prominent clinician at Seafield, that you heard from a mother, a father and a grandparent of what we’re dealing with,” Chassman said.