"For six years, I was a slave to addiction."

"My youngest brother died of a heroin overdose."

"My son Christopher died at the age of 22 years old."

They are stories heard all too often on Staten Island, lives cut short due to drug addiction.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand heard the accounts firsthand Tuesday during a roundtable discussion at St. Johns University.

Local leaders, advocates, and recovering addicts talked about how to combat the opioid epidemic.

"We have a severe crisis in this state and in the entire country," Gillibrand said.

The District Attorney’s office reports at least 54 people have fatally overdosed so far this year on Staten Island.

Gillibrand hopes to battle the problem through legislation called the "Preventing Overprescribing for Pain Act."

It would require the Centers for Disease Control to issue guidelines when it comes to prescribing opioids for short-term pain.

"Too often doctors are prescribing very large prescriptions for acute pain. So let's say you have your wisdom tooth out. You don't need a 30-day supply of Percocet. You just don't need it. You could probably get by with extra strength Tylenol," Gillibrand said.

While officials tackle overprescribed painkillers, they say lawmakers and community leaders need to do more to prevent heroin traffickers from reaching addicts.

"We need to work more closely with our law enforcement officials to tackle the heroin traffickers out there. They are the worst operators. They're taking advantage of people at the worst times of their life," State Senator Diane Savino said.

Advocates say better access to treatment facilities and more education would also help the problem.

And for recovering addict Kevin Parker, ending the stigma is key.

"I don't want people to be ashamed or embarrassed to seek help. That's one of the main problems,” Parker said. “People are afraid to get help and they're afraid people will judge them and they shouldn't be."

Another reason to keep the dialogue going.