Carrie Gerardi knew her daughter Denise was using heroin and tried everything to stop her: Ground the 18-year-old. Take your bedroom door off its hinges so it is always visible. She checked her arms for traces of evidence.
On July 16, 2008, Denise died at home in her bedroom, just weeks after graduating from Sachem High School East in Farmingville, of a heroin overdose.
>> VIDEO: Watch Senator Brian Foley Speak About Denise’s Law At A Press Conference
Now, the Gerardi family of Holtsville are the human face of Denise’s Law, a bill sponsored by Senator Brian Foley to improve parental control over the admission of their underage children to drug detoxification care.
Under the Family Courts Act, children under the age of 18 can check out of detox programs, but the Denise Act would allow parents and guardians to receive court orders and put their children back on the programs – whether they like it or not.
Janet Pfaeffle from Farmingville knows the struggle to help a child. Her 23-year-old son Christopher, also a graduate of Sachem East, died of a heroin overdose on New Year’s Day. He started his addiction as a teenager and she couldn’t get him to seek treatment. He later went alone.
“My son has dealt with detoxification and treatment many times. I know that the disease makes him resistant to treatment and you have to force it,” said Pfaeffle. “I think forcing is an answer, although some of the pros believe that if they want to get clean they have to want to get clean.”
Sign up for the Classroom newsletter.
The pandemic changed education on Long Island. Find out how.
By clicking on Register, you agree to our privacy policy.
Officials from the State Bureau of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse said they were reviewing the bill and had no comment.
In the past, Bureau officials have pointed out other ways to deal with heroin abuse, including outpatient treatment. And some experts ask how effective drug rehabilitation can be when the person being treated, regardless of age, does not do so voluntarily.
The bill, now waiting for a sponsor at the gathering, also requires insurance companies to cover the cost of the detox.
At a press conference Thursday at Farmingville High School with the Gerardis, Foley described teen heroin use as an “out of control problem” and promised that his bill would help remove “roadblocks” to families trying to take their children to help.
Statistics from Suffolk County show there have been at least 174 heroin deaths from 2006 to date, and one in ten was under the age of 21.
The legislation, which is supported by substance abuse treatment groups and local education associations, was drafted with input from the Sachem Parent Teacher Association and the AWARE committee of parents, students, educators, and local community leaders.
“I’ve wanted to do this for so long,” said Carrie Gerardi of the bill. In the two years her daughter switched from smoking marijuana to heroin shooting, her daughter resisted any program. “She didn’t want any help,” she said.
>> VIDEO: Watch Senator Brian Foley Speak About Denise’s Law At A Press Conference
Comments are closed.