OBSERVER Photo by Natasha Matteliano This opioid court is the third of its kind in the nation. Spearheading the endeavor are from left; Dunkirk Mayor Wilfred Rosas, Judge Paula Feroleto, Kristy Holland, resource coordinator for opioid court; District Attorney Patrick Swanson, Judge John Kuzdale, Jean Dill, chief clerk; Leeann Lazarony, resource coordinator for treatment court; Dan Heitzenrater from county executive’s office; and Ned Barone, public defender.

Dunkirk is now officially home to the third Opioid Court in the nation.

City Court Judge John Kuzdale opened the grand opening Monday afternoon with an explanation of the purpose of the new court and his hopes of what it will do for the community. “Trying to enter (people with opioid addictions) into traditional drug treatment court programs can take weeks or more,” he said. “This is not acceptable, especially when the access can mean life or death.”

He also explained that the Opioid Court is a part of the long established drug treatment court. The primary mission is to provide rapid treatment for those suffering from addiction to opioids. For these individuals, the goal is to focus in on their treatment, while prosecution of the charges against them is temporarily suspended.

The first court of this type opened in Buffalo with a second in Niagara County. Judge Paula Feroleto, state Supreme Court Justice and administrative judge of the 8th Judicial District, said. Between the two existing opioid courts, there are 550 people in the treatment court and only four people have died from overdoses.

“This is remarkable. It’s too many (deaths), but it is way fewer than we were seeing from our regular treatment courts. … It does work,” said Feroleto.

Patrick Swanson, county district attorney, said that this court is a “no-brainer” when looking at how positive this court has been in the other locations and how many people in Chautauqua County are affected by the opioid epidemic. He also explained he hopes to expand this court to Jamestown.

“My hope is that anybody who wants help dealing with the very real challenges that are presented by opioid addiction have somewhere to turn, whether they’ve been arrested or not,” he said.

Chautauqua County public defender Ned Barone was excited and grateful for this court being opened in the county. He says it is not about prosecuting cases or defending cases — it’s about saving lives. “After all, every individual this program helps, helps all of us as a community. We’re only as good as the individuals in the community,” he said.

Dunkirk’s Mayor Wilfred Rosas commended the leadership of the Eighth Judicial District for recognizing the need for these services in our county. He went on to say that Chautauqua County is not exempt from this worldwide crisis of opioids, there are individuals right here in the community that are impacted by this epidemic.

Kuzdale noted the grand opening of the court by explaining that drug overdoses in this country are now measured in the hundreds of thousands. These numbers, he said, have reduced these human lives to just statistics. “Our goal with the Opioid Court is to prevent the tragedy of individual death.” He explained the court will approach the problem one person at a time and offering treatment and support for the individuals based on their unique circumstances.

“The people suffering from these circumstances are not statistics,” he said. “They are our children, our brothers and sisters, parents, relatives, friends, neighbors, and even strangers. All whom should be valued human beings.”