White House Opioid Forum Slated For Albany

Local health and law enforcement officials, as well as families affected by addiction, have told the Times Union of heroin's expansion into the suburbs, from low-income households to neighborhoods of all classes. At the Albany County jail, Sheriff Craig Apple launched the Sheriff's Heroin Addiction Recovery Program in recognition that many inmates serving time for drug-related problems need treatment more than incarceration. In Saratoga Springs, recovering addicts have formed a recovery community organization, RAIS (Recovery Advocacy in Saratoga), whose intent is to shatter the stigma of addiction. The first stop on the group's listening tour last week was Schenectady, where local treatment providers called for better access to medications to wean users off heroin as well as insurance reforms that would ease access to inpatient therapy.