Judge Burns Decries Rise Of Scourge

County Judge Brian D. Burns is sworn in by State Supreme Court Judge Michael V. Coccoma.  Burns wife, Elizabeth, holds the Bible while their children, from left, Meg, Kevin and Tony, look on.

COOPERSTOWN

Three Otsego County people died of heroin overdoses in 2010.
Heroin arrests have occurred in Oneonta and Richfield Springs high schools.
“There are hundreds of thousands of dollars of heroin here in Otsego County,” County Judge Brian D. Burns of Oneonta told a full house in the Otsego County Courthouse’s main courtroom New Year’s Day shortly after he had been sworn in for a second 10-year term.
“I can’t emphasize enough how much that’s changed,” he continued.  “Heroin was simply not a problem.  It’s going to be the biggest problem in the next 10 years.”
That the judge chose to highlight such an issue at an event that typically focuses more on ceremony and thanks suggests how severe he views the challenge.
State Sen. Jim Seward, R-Milford, sworn in for a 13th term, and county Sheriff Richard J. Devlin, Jr., sworn in for a second term, kept more to form, thanking their families and supporters and discussing the challenges ahead.
Drue Quakenbush, an Oneonta high school student, sang the National Anthem at the outset, and led the audience in “America The Beautiful” at the end.
In further comments outside the building, Burns said heroin has become “as available as marijuana.”  Previously, he said, it was of poor quality, requiring it to be injected; now, it can simply be inhaled.
And no one is spared.
“Stay-at-home moms in their 40s are being arrested for selling it and for using it,” said the judge.  In another instance, a graduate student tried heroin at a college party and was hooked.
Shortterm, Burns said, the quickest response is what the district attorney and police are doing:  finding sellers and arresting them.

County Sheriff Richard J. Devlin, Jr., is sworn in by County Judge John Lambert.  The sheriff’s wife, Laurie, hold the Bible.

State Sen. Jim Seward, R-Milford, greets his aunt, Dora Fowler of Roxbury, after he was sworn in for his 13th term Saturday, Jan. 1, at the Otsego County Courthouse.  Ms. Fowler, 91, is the oldest teacher in New York State, as well as the longest serving.  At left is one of the senator’s sisters, Leona Hoag.