State passes bills aimed at tackling growing heroin problem
ENHANCING ENFORCEMENT
•Those using fraud or deceit to get their hands on a controlled substance or prescription can now be charged with a class A misdemeanor, creating a new charge in the state penal code.
• Licensed medical professionals and pharmacists found selling prescriptions or controlled substances can now be changed a class C felony, (as opposed to a class D felony currently applicable to everyone), bringing the maximum sentence up to five and a half years instead of two and a half years.
• The organized sale of prescription drugs will now be added to the Enterprise Corruption Act, allowing law enforcement agencies to further prosecute organized drug trafficking activity within the state.
• Law enforcement agencies have additional opportunities to use wiretapping and other avenues of accessing electronic communication to fully investigate crimes involving the distribution of controlled substances through the use of eavesdropping warrants.
WORTH NOTING: In February, the East End Drug Task Force used wiretapping in an investigation that successfully disbanded a heroin operation involving the sale of an ultra-potent premium form of heroin along Riverhead’s Route 58, marketed and distributed under the street name “Hollywood.”
Mr. Spota said the “Hollywood” product was responsible for six overdoses across the East End because of its high potency.
Following February’s arrests, Southold Police Chief Martin Flatley and Riverhead Police Chief David Hegermiller reported that arrests related to opiate drugs have risen in recent years, though did not have specific numbers.
