Opioid abuse within communities of color discussed at Suffolk forum in Bellport

“Substance use disorders, particularly opiate use disorder, is affecting all of us,” Suffolk County Health Commissioner Dr. Gregson Pigott said at a forum in Bellport on Wednesday. He is shown in an office on Oct. 29, 2020. Credit: Morgan Campbell

Community members and leaders gathered at the Boys & Girls Clubs of America in Bellport to discuss substance abuse within communities of color.

Substance Use and Harm Reduction Forum panelists, including Suffolk County Health Commissioner Dr. Gregson Pigott, Suffolk Police Commissioner Rodney K. Harrison and Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Odette Hall, talked about a range of issues that impact drug use, such as stigma around opioid use and the war on drugs.

“Substance use disorders, particularly opiate use disorder, is affecting all of us,” Pigott said.

Pigott, who is Black, added: “We don't talk about using opiates in the Black community especially. It's just not something you say.”

The Wednesday evening forum comes as more than 1 million people have died of drug overdoses since 1999, with many of them being linked with opioids, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2021, more than 100,000 drug overdose deaths happened nationally, the CDC said.

In Suffolk County, the problem can also be seen. Overdose deaths involving any type of opioid have outpaced the state's rate per population of 100,000 since at least 2010. In 2010, the rate was 9.2. By 2020, it was 26.1 in the county.

The rates of being opioid burdened — which can include nonfatal opioid overdose to dependency — are highest in Black and Hispanic people, according to state 2020 data looking at the phenomenon per population of 100,000.

At the forum, Pigott linked some of the issues to structural barriers such as difficulties in getting treatment, an aversion to methadone treatment and disproportionate police contact and incarceration leading to more drug arrests. He said they have been targeting communities with harm reduction strategies such as more Narcan to reverse an overdose and providing more fentanyl test strips to test for the substance in other communities.

Stressors related to the pandemic, such as the loss of a loved one, also played a role, Pigott said.

“So a lot of these stressors, pandemic-related, led to a lot of mental health challenges,” he said.

Harrison said the department was focused on how drugs like fentanyl were getting into communities of color — and the need to build trust with police to help deal with the issue.

He noted that substance abuse affects not only the user and family but the entire community.

“Opioids in our minority communities is not just killing those that unfortunately have an addiction. It hurts a lot of different people in different ways,” he said.

Community members and leaders gathered at the Boys & Girls Clubs of America in Bellport to discuss substance abuse within communities of color.

Substance Use and Harm Reduction Forum panelists, including Suffolk County Health Commissioner Dr. Gregson Pigott, Suffolk Police Commissioner Rodney K. Harrison and Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Odette Hall, talked about a range of issues that impact drug use, such as stigma around opioid use and the war on drugs.

“Substance use disorders, particularly opiate use disorder, is affecting all of us,” Pigott said.

Pigott, who is Black, added: “We don't talk about using opiates in the Black community especially. It's just not something you say.”

The Wednesday evening forum comes as more than 1 million people have died of drug overdoses since 1999, with many of them being linked with opioids, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2021, more than 100,000 drug overdose deaths happened nationally, the CDC said.

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In Suffolk County, the problem can also be seen. Overdose deaths involving any type of opioid have outpaced the state's rate per population of 100,000 since at least 2010. In 2010, the rate was 9.2. By 2020, it was 26.1 in the county.

The rates of being opioid burdened — which can include nonfatal opioid overdose to dependency — are highest in Black and Hispanic people, according to state 2020 data looking at the phenomenon per population of 100,000.

At the forum, Pigott linked some of the issues to structural barriers such as difficulties in getting treatment, an aversion to methadone treatment and disproportionate police contact and incarceration leading to more drug arrests. He said they have been targeting communities with harm reduction strategies such as more Narcan to reverse an overdose and providing more fentanyl test strips to test for the substance in other communities.

Stressors related to the pandemic, such as the loss of a loved one, also played a role, Pigott said.

“So a lot of these stressors, pandemic-related, led to a lot of mental health challenges,” he said.

Harrison said the department was focused on how drugs like fentanyl were getting into communities of color — and the need to build trust with police to help deal with the issue.

He noted that substance abuse affects not only the user and family but the entire community.

“Opioids in our minority communities is not just killing those that unfortunately have an addiction. It hurts a lot of different people in different ways,” he said.

Education: Howard University

Tiffany Cusaac-Smith came to Newsday in 2023 after being a race and history reporter at USA TODAY, where she wrote enterprise and spot articles examining how the past shapes the present. Previously, she worked as the race and justice reporter at the USA TODAY Network of New York, covering issues such as criminal justice reform, housing, environmental justice, health care and politics. At The Journal News/lohud.com in Westchester County, she covered Yonkers, the state's third-largest city. She also worked at The Associated Press in Atlanta.

Honors and Awards: Criminal justice reporting fellowship with the National Press Foundation; New York News Publishers Association award for distinguished investigative reporting; Contributed reporting for Best of Gannett honor; Member of Table Stakes, a program funded by the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and managed by the American Press Institute to transform local news.

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