Drug Abuse Prevention Group to Hold Second Town Hall Meeting

The Northport-East Northport Drug and Alcohol Task Force (DATF) will hold their second Town Hall meeting to discuss substance abuse in the community at 6:45 p.m. on May 21 at the Northport Library.

The meeting will feature an interactive question and answer session with a panel of guests including teacher Darryl St. George, mental health counselor Steven Pinto, E.R. physician Dr. Elisa Cusati, a representative from the Suffolk County Police Department, a Northport Fire Department EMT, and Sarah Smith, a young person in recovery.

The first DATF town hall meeting in April, attended by nearly 100 people, featured an account of addiction and recovery from a young Northport High School graduate as well as training in Narcan administration, a drug used to stop an overdose.

DATF Co-Chair Anthony Ferrandino said his group hopes to make the events part of an ongoing conversation featuring different perspectives of people in the community.

"We have had several deaths of young people in our community within the last five or six years and it seems to be becoming a regular occurrence," Ferrandino said. "We want to change this trend."

Ferrandino said DATF surveys have shown that many students feel that their parents are "favorable" toward drug and alcohol use. This, he said, speaks to the need for parental education on the prevalence of substance abuse, drug trends, and skills needed to parent around drug and alcohol issues.

As part of its multi-pronged approach, the DATF also holds workshops on areas that seem to be of the most interest to the community such as, "The rise in prescription drug use" or "Is Marijuana harmless."