February 15, 2018
PRESIDING OFFICER NICOLELLO ANNOUNCES EXPANSION TO SOCIAL HOST LAW TO HELP COMBAT OPIOID EPIDEMIC
Presiding Officer Richard Nicolello, along with Legislators Thomas McKevitt and Laura Schaefer, held a press conference on Tuesday, February 13th to announce new legislation to help combat the opioid epidemic. The new legislation will expand Nassau County’s current social host law to apply to controlled substances, including opioids. Currently, Nassau’s social host law only applies to alcohol.
By including “controlled substances” within the Nassau County social host law, owners of private residences, including parents, guardians, and others, will be held accountable for knowingly allowing the consumption of controlled substances or alcohol by anyone under age twenty-one on the premises or failing to take reasonable corrective action upon learning of the consumption of drugs or alcohol. Violation of the social host law is considered an unclassified misdemeanor. The fine for a first offense is $250. A second offense will accrue a fine of $500, and a third offense, and all offenses thereafter will be $1,000 and/or imprisonment not to exceed one year.
“This legislation fills a gaping hole in the social host law. Every level of government must reexamine its laws and policies to combat the opioid epidemic that took more than 600 lives on Long Island in 2017,” said Presiding Officer Nicolello.