Nick Reisman is reporting for State of Politics a planned 31 percent reduction in drug addiction treatment programs in New York could have a "potentially calamitous" effect, two Democratic state lawmakers warned in comments made July 15. The lawmakers, Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal and Sen. Peter Harckham, chair the Assembly and Senate Alcoholism and Drug Abuse committees. The cuts to treatment programs come as the state is considering broad-based decreases in spending amid the coronavirus pandemic, at the same time the number of overdose-related deaths have increased. The increases are attributed to a variety of factors: Stay-at-home orders, stress and the closure of some hospital-based programs for combating opioid use. Rosenthal said in a statement. “...{D]rug and alcohol treatment providers have been subsisting on starvation budgets for years, and there is simply no fat left to cut. A 31 percent cut for addiction treatment providers at a time when overdose deaths are increasing will mean more people will die from preventable overdoses as community-based treatment providers are forced to close their doors." Officials are pressing for federal support, but it is not clear when the next stimulus package will be approved. Read the full story at nystateofpolitics [dot] com.