The heroin and opioid epidemic is now a national emergency and NY Senator Charles Schumer wants $600 million to stop it, ASAP.
Schumer was in Buffalo Friday, surrounded by family members who have lost their loved ones to overdoes. More than 350 people have died in Erie County alone in the past two years, 23 in an 11 day period already this year.
Schumer says the emergency money is in a bill expected to be voted on in Washington next month. He says he believes there's a good chance it will pass with bi-partsian support.
That money would be given to communities here and all over the country, to both law enforcement and treatment programs, in an effort to try and get a handle on a national crisis that Schumer says has gone on far too long.
