With September comes cooler weather and a plethora of awareness months. September happens to be Thyroid Cancer Awareness Month, National Yoga Awareness Month, and Ovarian and Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, among many others. The September health observance nearest and dearest to the mission of the Long Island Health Collaborative is National Recovery Month. National Recovery Month helps bring attention and respect to an issue that is often stigmatized. Recovery is a beautiful and possible thing, and this month is an opportunity to acknowledge and provide extra support to our communities in recovery.
Federal Recovery Month Efforts
Sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) since 1989, National Recovery Month is meant to “promote and support new evidence-based treatment and recovery practices, the nation’s strong and proud recovery community, and the dedication of service providers and communities who make recovery in all its forms possible.” . SAMHSA is a government agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as of its establishment in 1992 by Congress. The agency’s main goal is to educate individuals and advance the behavioral health of the United States. In 2023, President Joe Biden declared September National Recovery Month once again, ensuring the continued efforts to promote recovery throughout the US. Driven by the desire to motivate and inspire individuals struggling with addiction, National Recovery Month opens the conversation many individuals avoid having. Following a theme each year to encourage community engagement, SAMHSA invites artists to submit paintings, drawings, mixed media, and photography to their “The Art of Recovery” annual project. This year’s project, titled The Gallery of Hope, will be public for virtual viewing in September of 2024.
New York State OASAS September 2023 Key Takeaways
Each September, the New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS) is the nation’s largest system of treatment centers and recovery options for those struggling with addiction. The vision for the state department, founded in 1992, is to oversee and implement addiction services to New York residents so that everyone can live a happy and healthy life beyond addiction.
OASAS releases a bulletin which displays a record of all NYS residents that have sought support of one of the many treatment options across the state. In the September bulletin for 2023, they recorded that over 2.8 million New Yorkers had a substance use disorder in 2022. 6,358 NYS residents died due to overdose and 2,003 died from alcohol-related incidents in 2022. Data found that 14.1% of substance use disorder treatment admissions in 2022 were Long Island residents. This translated to 25,244 Long Island residents. This data encompasses both drug and alcohol abuse.
Reported by Valley Stream Recovery, 18.4% of adults on Long Island reported excessive alcohol use in 2022. Binge drinking is defined as having four to five alcoholic drinks with two hours for adults over the legal age of 21 by the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. The stats drop to two or three drinks in two hours for individuals under 21. In 2022, college age individuals in the 18-25 range made up 28.9% of reported binge drinkers in the United States.
According to the bulletin, 15.3% of NYS residents reported binge drinking when entering a SUD treatment. The percentage of binge drinkers who also use cannabis is 27.4%.
The Issue of Impaired Driving on LI
Substance use poses obvious health risks to individual users. Addiction is a far-reaching disease, and its effects are often felt by those around those suffering from active addiction or in recovery, whether its friends, family members, or even tangential connections like fellow road users.
According to preliminary 2024 data from the Institute for Traffic Safety Management & Research (ITSMR) Traffic Safety Statistical Repository (TSSR), there were 357 police-reported impaired crashes across Long Island this year. The same preliminary data shows that police issued 1,684 impairment tickets on Long Island this year. According to the database, “Impaired Driving involves the use of alcohol, drugs (legal or illegal) or a combination of alcohol and drugs.”
Walk Safe Long Island recently blogged about New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s 2024 traffic safety report. The publication showed in 2022, one-in-three fatalities in New York State involved a driver with a Blood Alcohol Content level (BAC) above the federal legal limit of .08 (371 fatalities). The same report indicates from 2019 to 2022, there was a 45 percent increase in the number of fatalities involving drivers above the legal limit. Read the full blog and learn more about impaired driving and traffic safety on Long Island here.
Recovery Support on Long Island
Beyond the support offered across the state, local medical and community-based treatment resources are available on Long Island as well. Those seeking help can reach out to one of many hospitals on Long Island for information about their inpatient and outpatient substance use services. For example, the Catholic Health System, provides addiction service support at both their Mercy Hospital location in Rockville Centre and St. Charles Hospital in Port Jefferson. The Northwell Health System also provides recovery resources at Mather Hospital in Port Jefferson and South Oaks Hospital in Amityville. Stony Brook Medicine offers inpatient and outpatient behavioral healthcare and substance use treatment through Stony Brook Eastern Long Island Hospital’s Quannacut program. Please visit our Long Island health systems’ individual websites for more information about their recovery, substance use, and addiction treatment options.
Community efforts drive the conversation within addiction recovery, and many Long Island Health Collaborative member organizations focus on providing community-based recovery resources and support. Some of those organizations include:
- The Association for Mental Health and Wellness has two Centers for Recovery and Wellness, one in Ronkonkoma and one in Riverhead
- THRIVE (Transformation, Healing, Recovery, Inspiration, Validation, Empowerment) is a Long Island based organization meant to drive community conversations and offer safe locations for recovery resources. These resources are offered to not only those struggling with addiction but to their families and friends, as addiction can affect anyone. Thrive has locations in Hauppauge, Westbury, and Westhampton Beach.
- The Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (LICADD) is located in Westbury and offers recovery resources, as well as family services for those on the road to recovery. They also offer support to that focus group of college age individuals, and trainings to those that want to get involved with addiction recovery efforts.
For a full list of LIHC member organizations that provide recovery services and beyond, visit our Membership Directory.
Addiction is not something to be ashamed of, and help is available. When looking forward to the fall, we can look forward to recovery. While we’ve made progress to destigmatize recovery, efforts to normalize this conversation must continue. With the support of NYS funded programs, as well as local hospital and community-based recovery support, no one ever has to feel alone. If you or someone you know needs support, there is no shame in reaching out, taking the steps, and achieving your goals of an addiction free life.