New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has signed a package of four bills designed to fight the heroin and opioid crisis in the state.
During a press conference on Wednesday, Cuomo said one of the bills would limit opioid prescriptions to seven days instead of 30.
“We’ve said you can’t do a prescription for more than seven days, period. If you have to refill it, you refill it, but no one is going home with 30 days of opioids that can get them hooked or that they can sell.”
The legislative package also requires mandatory education on pain management for health care providers who prescribe opioids.
Other bills offer more support to people currently struggling with addiction. One increases the number of treatment beds by 270. Another adds about 2,500 addiction treatment slots statewide.
Cuomo signed the bills while touring the state and visiting what he called the epicenters of the crisis, at events in Long Island, Staten Island and Buffalo.
