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For Immediate Release -

Contact: Jeremy Saunders, 917-676-8041 / jeremy@vocal-ny.org

Every day in 2016, four people died of a unintentional drug overdose in New York City, a total of
1,374 deaths. This is the sixth consecutive year that overdoses have increased, a 46% increase
from 2015. This tragedy hit communities across New York City hard, but the burden of loss is
increasingly falling heavy upon black New Yorkers, Bronx residents, and those living in high
poverty neighborhoods. Fentanyl, a synthetic and short-acting opioid analgesic, is driving these
overdose deaths as it's increasingly introduced to heroin and cocaine.

The complex issue of opioid overdose requires a thoughtful, immediate response replete with
necessary tools and resources. Our city's and state's response must be rooted in an evidence-
based, public health approach to this tragic situation. While we support the role of law
enforcement - primarily in upstate New York where they are often the first responders who save
lives with naloxone, we do not want emergency rooms to become crime scenes. Far too often
resources are directed toward criminalization when all should be directed to public health.

Immediate solutions in New York City include:

Increase financial investment to the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to
coordinate a public health response to this epidemic: We applaud HealingNYC and its
increased funding for harm reduction services, yet this and prior campaigns rely too heavily
on law enforcement, who are ill-equipped to comprehensively address drug use. In this
moment, funding must be directed to prevention resources including: fentanyl testing strips,
education campaigns, community health and outreach workers, and facilitation of community
partnerships between harm reduction, recovery and treatment programs.
Expand public education campaigns: Widespread fentanyl education campaigns have
increased the visibility of its presence in the drug supply and the opioid overdose epidemic.
We urge that this messaging continue and that funding be increased to the peer educators,
care coordinators, and syringe exchange program staff that provide the education and
naloxone training necessary to prepare people to prevent and to respond to overdose,
keeping our community members alive.
Creation of Safe Consumption Spaces: The City has been conducting a feasibility study on
the establishment of safe injection facilities, also known as safe consumption spaces. Amidst a
public health emergency we must implement this public health intervention that has proven to
be effective in 66 cities across the world. Not only do these facilities provide a point-of-care
intervention that immediately reduces overdose deaths, but also provide an entry point to
services including treatment.
Passage of City legislation to reduce overdose deaths in city shelters: Overdose is the
leading cause of death in shelters; Int 1443 seeks to ensure that shelter staff are trained and
able to respond to an overdose. The city must also invest in training and naloxone distribution
for shelters' residents.

80-A Fourth Ave. | Brooklyn, NY 11217 | www.VOCAL-NY.org | info@vocal-ny.org | (718) 802-9540 | 718-228-2477 fax
 While these statistics only represent New York City, the opioid epidemic plagues our entire
state and needs immediate action:

Increase financial investment toward the New York State Department of Health and its
public health response to this epidemic: Similar to New York City, New York State must
also invest in its department of health, increase funding for harm reduction and syringe
exchange programs (e.g. hiring of community health workers and outreach staff), and make
funding available to provide fentanyl testing strips. Facilitation of partnerships between harm
reduction, recovery and treatment programs will be crucial for a statewide response.
Expand and public education campaigns: Citywide fentanyl education campaigns must be
expanded to the rest of the state to increase the visibility of both fentanyl's presence in the
drug supply and the opioid overdose epidemic. We must also increase funding to hire peer
educators, care coordinators, and harm reduction outreach staff to provide crucial prevention
education and naloxone trainings. This will prepare people to prevent and respond to
overdose, keeping our community members alive.
Legalization of Safe Consumption Spaces: Beyond New York City, the State must support
the implementation of public health interventions, such as safe consumption spaces. Elected
officials including Ithaca Mayor Svante Myrick support statewide establishment of SCSs and
Assembly member Linda Rosenthal plans to introduce state legislation.
Increased access to medication assisted therapy, (primarily buprenorphine/suboxone):
Large swaths of the state have either limited or no access to the effective medication assisted
therapy that regions need in order to effectively address local opioid epidemics. Most
urgently, the state must increase and simplify access to buprenorphine, especially at critical
access points where these therapies can support people's recovery (e.g. jails, prisons, and
syringe exchange programs). The State must also have an honest assessment of the
effectiveness of new treatment modalities including Vivitrol, which helps some, but is often
less effective than well-researched alternatives like buprenorphine.
Drug treatment on demand: Treatment must be available to people when they are ready to
engage in it, from inpatient- and outpatient- detox to rehabilitation and supportive housing.
However, treatment programs and modalities require evaluation.
Marijuana access: While Governor Cuomo has claimed that marijuana is a gateway drug,
some states that legalized marijuana have seen a decrease in opioid overdose. Similarly, the
state must expand and simplify access to medical marijuana, which can be a pain
management alternative to pharmaceutical opioids.

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80-A Fourth Ave. | Brooklyn, NY 11217 | www.VOCAL-NY.org | info@vocal-ny.org | (718) 802-9540 | 718-228-2477 fax