Since the 1980s, the mortality rate in New York City has been declining. Since 2010 however, the unintentional overdose fatality rate in New York City has been on the rise. This spike has been driven primarily by opioid overdose fatalities and has counteracted all gains the city has made in the last two decades. Heroin and opioid analgesic overdose fatalities have been particularly troublesome; the heroin overdose fatality rate has doubled since 2010 and the analgesic overdose fatality rate has tripled since 2001.
Drug abuse is nothing new for New York City, of course. Heroin has been present in the minds of city residents since the 1970s drug scare. The city’s response was the Rockefeller drug laws. Among other elements, these laws imposed draconian mandatory minimums for low-level drug offenses. In 2009 Governor Patterson worked with the state legislature to repeal the mandatory minimums and other parts of the law.
The ever-increasing rates of drug overdoses shouldn’t be seen as a call for greater enforcement; they should be seen as a call for a change in how we react to drug abuse. Drug abusers are victims, not criminals, and the city should focus its efforts towards saving lives. But the list of drug abuse victims is not restricted to just those who are getting high.
The greatest way to go about this would be further proliferation of naloxone, a life saving overdose response drug. This drug functions by blocking opioid receptors in the body, which effectively ends any opioid high within moments of administration. Naloxone’s most amazing quality is that it has no side effects if it’s administered to someone who took no opioids. The greatest danger that comes from administration is the potential for vomit due to the sudden withdrawal symptoms felt by the overdosing person.
The city has tested naloxone by giving it to a select group of NYPD officers. This program has been highly successful, leading to numerous drug rescues. There is currently legislation pending in the state legislature that would mandate that a prescription of naloxone accompany all prescriptions of an opioid analgesic. This is a great step towards protecting those who might accidentally overdose on their painkillers. Still, more can be done. A great step forward would be to legalize over-the-counter sale of naloxone. Were this done, New York City residents could create first aid kids containing naloxone alongside bandages and rubbing alcohol. The costs of implementing this plan are minimal. The benefits are astronomical.
This post was written by a student enrolled in the Capstone Seminar course in the undergraduate program in public policy at Hunter College. Any opinions expressed here are solely those of the student.