Can Safe Injection Sites Reduce New York Deaths?

DO SEAT BELTS SAVE LIVES? –

Nov. 1, 2022 – The record achieved by OnPoint NYC, the nonprofit agency that runs the two supervised narcotics consumption sites in New York City, is being cited by advocates who contend such programs have demonstrated they can help reduce what has been a growing toll of fatal overdoses in both New York and the nation.

Data released last week by the state Department of Health revealed New York experienced a 14 percent increase in 2021 overdose deaths involving opioids over the prior year.

In the counties outside New York City, a region that includes all of upstate New York, there were a total of 2,630 overdose fatalities. Many of the deaths, according to public health authorities, involve the mixing of illegal fentanyl with heroin or other opioids.

The advocates say the overdoses need an effective public health response, contending that having police investigate drug users is a waste of resources that has not made a dent in neither the demand nor supply of illicit drugs and prescription opioids available on the black market.