SPRINGPORT – Flanked by recovering survivors, public health advocates and his Assembly Republican colleagues, Assemblyman Gary D. Finch (R,C,I-Springport) has issued a forceful call to fund new, comprehensive treatment programs to combat the heroin epidemic, the terrible scourge that has claimed two dozen lives in Cayuga County alone over the past fourteen months.

At a press conference held Monday, Finch’s Assembly Republican Conference unveiled a report generated by their Task Force on Heroin Addiction and Community Response. Members of the statewide task force heard testimony from local officials, law enforcement, health care providers and recovering addicts and their families.

Finch challenged New Yorkers to change their attitudes about addiction, stressing that friends and neighbors battling addiction are worthy of compassion and support.

“This is a disease,” said Finch. “We need to erase the stigma associated with addiction, and we need to ensure that addicts who want to put their lives back together can get the treatment they need and deserve.”