Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact Us
  • Passport
  • Support WSKG
Donate
  • Donate
  • logo
  • logo
  • Donate
  • Home
  • News
  • TV
  • Radio
  • Schedules
  • Events
  • Arts
  • Education
  • History
  • Science
  • Donate
  • More
    • About
    • Contact Us
    • Passport
    • Support WSKG

WSKG - Local news and arts, broadcasting NPR radio and PBS TV.

WSKG thanks our sponsors...
  • Donate your vehicle to support WSKG

WSKG (https://wskg.org/news/cuomo-proposes-opioid-tax-to-pay-for-drug-epidemic/)

  • Donate
  • Home
  • News
  • TV
  • Radio
  • Schedules
  • Events
  • Arts
  • Education
  • History
  • Science
Listen Live WSKG
Listen Live WSKG Classical

Watch Live WSKG TV
Watch Live PBS Kids
Learn at Home
Covid-19 information

Cuomo Proposes Opioid Tax To Pay For Drug Epidemic

By Payne Horning | January 23, 2018
More
  • More on Addiction
  • Subscribe to Addiction

NVINACCO / FLICKR

SYRACUSE (WRVO) – One of the new sources of revenue included in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposed executive budget is an opioid epidemic surcharge. The 2 cent tax per milligram of active opioid ingredient on pills would be levied on drug manufacturers.

 Robert Mujica, Cuomo’s budget director, says it could help accomplish two important goals, including raising $125 million for the Opioid Prevention, Treatment and Recovery Fund.

“It offsets our costs,” Mujica said. “We’re spending over $200 million this year on the epidemic. It’s an increase over last year. But also we want to discourage opioid use. So similar to a tax on cigarettes, if it gets too expensive to use those drugs, perhaps they will move on to other, less addictive drugs.”

The tax would help pay for more treatment slots in recovery programs, recovery centers and prevention campaigns.

Jim Scordo, executive director of Watertown’s drug treatment clinic Credo Community Center, said it is a great idea to make pharmaceutical companies contribute to the solution to this problem.

“I’m hopeful that they are going to take responsibility for this and say we were part of the problem here and we have made an awful lot of money off of this,” Scordo said. “We need additional dollars for prevention and treatment efforts. This is an epidemic like no other one we have seen and it needs additional funding to be able to provide the care that’s necessary, and increase awareness through prevention efforts.”

Some are concerned that much like tobacco taxes, the increased costs would ultimately be passed onto individuals.

Brian Johnson, president of the Onondaga County Medical Society, says that would likely add up to $6 on a five-day subscription of 60 milligrams per day. But Johnson says that’s a step in the right direction to ending the over-prescription of opioids.

“Should they be used for acute pain? Yes, sometimes. Should they be used for chronic pain? Never. So something that helps people stop using them for chronic pain is a good move by Gov. Cuomo,” Johnson said.

Mujica says the state will have limitations built in to control the costs of drugs so manufacturers have to pay the tax, but he did not offer specifics.

Recent Posts

  • Cuomo’s Reservations About His Own Tax-The-Rich Proposal

    ALBANY, NY (WSKG) - In his budget plan, Gov. Andrew Cuomo proposed imposing new higher income taxes on New York’s wealthiest residents if President Joe Biden and Congress don’t come through with enough federal aid to close the state’s budget deficit. But at the same time, he offered a contradictory message, saying it might hurt the state’s competitiveness and cause the rich to flee the state.

  • PA Proposal To Join Regional Cap-And-Trade Program Draws 13,000 Comments

    STATEIMPACT PENNSYLVANIA - Thousands of people weighed in on Pennsylvania’s proposal to join a regional effort to curb carbon dioxide emissions. The Department of Environmental Protection now must read the more than 13,000 comments on its draft rule to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) and use them to inform its final regulation.

  • The logo of the National Rifle Association is seen at an outdoor sports trade show in 2017.
    New York Judge Rejects NRA’s Bid To Throw Out Or Transfer Lawsuit That Could Shut It Down

    A New York judge has rejected a National Rifle Association bid to dismiss, pause or transfer to another court a lawsuit by the state of New York that could shut down the organization. The lawsuit, filed by the New York attorney general in August, seeks to dissolve the nonprofit and alleges that executives diverted millions of dollars of NRA funds to luxury vacations, private jets and more.

  • How Response To COVID-19 Pandemic Impacts AIDS, Drug Epidemics

    BINGHAMTON, NY (WSKG) — The federal response to COVID-19 was not agile, but one long-time advocate for people living with AIDS said it has been much more swift than the response to that epidemic. "Voilà, we have a vaccine," said John Barry, executive director of the Southern Tier AIDS Program (STAP).

  • Transportation Program Bridges Gap In Rural Vaccine Distribution

    BINGHAMTON, NY (WSKG) — New Yorkers over the age of 65 are able to get an appointment for the COVID-19 vaccine. Getting to that appointment, however, remains a challenge for many people in rural areas.

WSKG thanks our sponsors...

About WSKG

WSKG connects you to local and global news and the arts online, on the radio, and on TV. NPR and PBS affiliate.

Contact Us

email: WSKGcomment@wskg.org

phone: 607.729.0100

address: 601 Gates Road, Vestal, NY 13850

DONATE

Pay an underwriting invoice

  • WSKG
  • Arts
  • Education
  • Science
  • News
  • Radio
  • Schedule
  • TV
  • About
  • WSKG Staff
  • Contact Us
  • Jobs
  • Public Reports & Policies
  • Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)
  • Protect My Public Media
FCC PUBLIC FILES
WSKG-FM
WSQX-FM
WSQG-FM
WSQE
WSQA
WSQC-FM
WSQN
WSKG-TV
WSKA
Disabled and need assistance with the online FCC public file?
Contact Gregory Keeler
WSKG
601 Gates Road
Vestal, New York 13850
607-729-0100
gkeeler@wskg.org

Stay Connected

Like Us on FacebookFollow Us on TwitterFollow Us on YouTubeFollow Us on InstagramSubscribe via RSS

© Copyright 2021, WSKG

Built with the Largo WordPress Theme from the Institute for Nonprofit News.

Back to top ↑

Change Location
To find awesome listings near you!