OPINION: We must stop heroin from destroying New York’s communities again
Communities throughout New York City and across the state are all grappling with the same struggle—how do we confront the heroin crisis that is ruining lives, destroying families and crippling communities?
In New York City, heroin-related overdose deaths increased 84 percent between 2010 and 2012, after years of decline in the last decade. The rate of unintentional drug poisoning deaths in general increased from 541 to 740 (35 percent) during this same period. Nearly all (97 percent) of those deaths involved more than one substance, with heroin among the most commonly identified.
While a scourge of heroin ravaged our communities in the 1970s and 1980s, heroin addiction had leveled off or declined for decades. Now, however, the crisis has exploded again and is recognized as one of the main issues impacting our city, state and region. From Bay Ridge to Buffalo and Manhattan to Manlius, our communities and cities, and those of our neighboring states, are all trying to combat the same societal disaster.