Claire Hughes is reporting in the Times Union on December 19, addiction treatment providers called on the governor and state lawmakers to include $100 million in the state budget specifically to support staffing. While statewide overdose deaths from heroin, prescription painkillers and synthetic opioids rose almost 200 percent between 2011 and 2016, during that same time state funding for addiction prevention, treatment and recovery increased by only 10 percent, according to The Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Providers of New York State. ASAP Executive Director John Coppola likened what he termed a “pandemic” of opioid abuse and overdoses to a natural disaster that requires a prompt response. Slots for outpatient programs and beds in residential treatment facilities often go empty due to staffing shortages, and the number of professionals working to prevent drug abuse has also declined, even as opioid abuse has increased. Read the full story in the Times Union.