BINGHAMTON – Emotions ran high on Tuesday when the Senate Task Force invited members of local communities to speak openly about the issues they face with heroin and opioid addiction.

Alexis Pleus, Executive Director of Truth Pharm, was one of the members in the first panel held at Binghamton University.

Pleus highlighted the dangers of prescription drugs saying, "My son was handed a prescription for oxycontin; which was basically a death sentence. If you look at the maps for opioid overprescription and then compare it to maps of opioid overdose death. They are one in the same."

She continued on to eventually ask the senators to make a pledge to avoid using the phrase, "we can't arrest our way out of this" unless they fully intended to stop making new laws punishing people with drug addictions.

Akshar responded by saying, "Enforcement is a very important component to all of this. We may disagree and thats okay. Thats why we have to have this conversation."

The next panel began shortly after. Panel members discussed prescription drugs, fighting the addict stigma, healthcare coverage, and the difficultly of administering drug related treatment.