New York numbers show significant drop in opioid overdose deaths

addiction recovery ebulletin opioid deaths drop

Tipping Point? –

December 10, 2019 – “And while New York has taken the most aggressive actions to combat the opioid crisis of any other state in the country, the opioid epidemic continues to devastate too many families and we will not rest until we put an end to it once and for all.” We spoke with Allison Weingarten, the director of policy for Friends of Recovery New York. “I think that its positive but its also not a big enough shift i feel, where we’re not going to pack up and go home,” she said.

The numbers are almost as encouraging for the 10 capital region counties: Albany, Columbia, Greene, Montgomery, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, Warren and Washington. Combined, those counties saw 161 overdose deaths in 2017 and 145 in 2018, a drop of 10%. Weingarten says part of the success can be attributed to the amount of resources no available to those dealing with addiction.