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Long Island Officials Warn Of Influx Of Counterfeit Drugs

A bag full of methamphetamine made to look like Adderall pills.
Courtesy Office of Suffolk County District Attorney
A bag full of methamphetamine made to look like Adderall pills.

Suffolk County District Attorney Tim Sini issued an “urgent safety announcement” to warn Long Islanders about illegal drugs being camouflaged to look like prescription pills.

Sini said Suffolk Police made an arrest Friday that was the first of its kind in the county for possession of counterfeit Adderall pills made with methamphetamine.

He said the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration attributes the fake Adderall pills to Mexican drug cartels “who manufacture the pills in an attempt to get young people addicted to methamphetamine.”

Steven Chassman with the Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence is sounding the alarm.

“I can assure you the healthcare system that we have in New York City — New York State, rather — is not prepared for a crystal meth or amphetamine crisis that the rest of the country has seen with tragic outcomes,” Chassman said.

Earlier this month, Suffolk police also made an arrest for the alleged sale of the synthetic opioid fentanyl “pressed as pills and marketed as Oxycodone.”

Sini said residents who illegally buy prescription drugs “are putting their lives at risk.”

A native Long Islander, J.D. is WSHU's managing editor. He also hosts the climate podcast Higher Ground. J.D. reports for public radio stations across the Northeast, is a journalism educator and proud SPJ member.