Fentanyl Slams New York State
For anyone who’s been following the opioid crisis, It’s no surprise that detailed health data from New York would be grim, but the new stats are profoundly and simply sad.
As reported by The Fix, revised statistics from the New York Health Department show that synthetic opioids, including fentanyl, were involved in nearly 80% of the more than 1,800 opioid-related overdoses that occurred in New York State counties, excluding New York City, in 2016.
The drug is so prevalent that first responders have come to assume that they will encounter fentanyl in an overdose case, while support groups are now considering the distribution of test strips to help users detect the presence of fentanyl in other drugs.
In New York counties like Albany, fentanyl appears to have become a regular occurrence for law enforcement and health care advocates. “I hear estimates that eight or nine out of 10 bags of heroin these days are going to have fentanyl in them,” said Joseph Filippone, director of the Albany-based syringe exchange program Project Safe Point. The prevalence of the drug has made efforts to combat the toll taken by overdoses through naloxone or other means a challenge for groups like Filippone’s. “It’s safe to say that what we’re doing isn’t stopping anything,” he said.
Are you or a loved one struggling with addiction, lying to yourself and others? Don’t wait any longer to ask for help. In today’s environment, you never know when your next dose will be your last!