Mayor Eric Adams.
Workplace of the Mayor of New York Metropolis
A deadly overdose happens in New York Metropolis each three hours. The opioid epidemic is a rising public well being disaster that we should finish.
It has inflicted an excessive amount of heartache in our metropolis. Producers and distributors have hooked 1000’s of New Yorkers on opioids and different painkillers. They’ve raked in billions of {dollars} — profiting off of dependancy and tragedy whereas individuals’s lives have been misplaced and destroyed.
Final yr was the deadliest yr on report for overdose deaths in our metropolis. In 2022 alone, over 3,000 New Yorkers died of a drug overdose — a 12 p.c enhance from 2021 — and fentanyl overdoses made up 81 p.c of these overdoses.
I do know the destruction that overdose epidemics could cause. I used to be a police officer in the course of the Eighties, and I noticed how firsthand how crack devastated our communities. We can’t sit again and let what occurred to prior generations occur to our households. That is the second the place we should do all the things in our energy to confront and defeat the opioid disaster.
Because of the efforts of New York Lawyer Common Letitia James, who secured billions of {dollars} from opioid producers and distributors, we’re investing in our neighborhoods throughout the 5 boroughs to struggle this epidemic and save lives.
Simply final week, our administration introduced $12 million in new funding for Staten Island, which has been hit exhausting by the overdose epidemic. Staten Island accounts for 5 p.c of all overdose deaths citywide and has town’s second highest overdose charge of the 5 boroughs. We listened to the issues of leaders on the bottom in Staten Island, and we’re proud that this crucial funding will make an actual distinction, and guarantee extra New Yorkers can reside lengthy, wholesome lives with their family members.
This work goes hand-in-hand with the numerous steps we have now already taken to fight the opioid disaster. Earlier this yr, we launched our psychological well being agenda, which outlines how we’ll increase entry to high-quality hurt discount companies, and we set a daring purpose of decreasing overdose deaths by 15 p.c by 2025.
We additionally held the primary ever two-day summit on the fentanyl disaster that introduced elected leaders, public well being officers, and legislation enforcement professionals from throughout the nation to New York Metropolis to work in direction of a nationwide technique to fight fentanyl overdoses.
And thru intensive enforcement, we have now made a whole bunch of arrests of drug sellers and traffickers. Along with expanded enforcement, we have now elevated our assist for prevention, hurt discount, substance use dysfunction remedy, and restoration applications citywide, and have distributed greater than 200,000 Naloxone kits and tens of 1000’s of fentanyl and xylazine check strips.
It’s devastating to lose a beloved one to an overdose. It impacts your loved ones, buddies, and group. It impacts this metropolis. Each overdose loss of life is a tragedy, however each overdose can be preventable.
We can’t repeat the errors of the previous, and with these crucial funds, we’re tackling the opioid disaster head on. Collectively, we’re going to scale back overdoses, save lives, and shield our communities.
