By Hank Russell
Despite the numbers showing that opioid-related deaths have declined rapidly, a top law enforcement official said not enough is being done to combat the opioid crisis.
Data from addiction-rep.com, a provider of addiction treatment facility services based in Sarasota, Florida, found that opioid-related deaths fell 20.5% year over year, from 5,648 in June 2023 — when those deaths were at its peak — to 4,549 in June 2024. Further, at the same time, the number of per-capita deaths decreased from 28.8 to 22.9.
Despite those numbers, the Empire State just scratched up to the top half — 24th — in states with the greatest decline in those who died of opioid overdoses. The top five with the largest decreases, percentage-wise, were North Carolina (-47.7%), Pennsylvania (-28.9%), Ohio (-28.8%), Arkansas (-28.5%) and Virginia (-27.5%), according to addiction-rep.com.
Iowa had the lowest per-capita death rate at 6.9, based on addiction-rep.com data. Arkansas was second with 8.4,, followed by Texas (9.6), Idaho (12.3) and Kansas (13.1).
“Although it is gratifying to see the numbers come down, they are still at unacceptable levels,” said Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney.
Tierney has been working with state Assemblyman Steve Stern to get the “Death by Dealer” Law passed in Albany. That would hold drug dealers legally responsible for a customer’s death from their product. In addition, he called for the closure of the loophole in the drugged driving law, in which police cannot arrest someone for driving under the influence if the drug they have taken is not on the list of substances.
“We have concentrated our drug enforcement efforts on those dealers causing overdose deaths,” Tierney said. “Beyond that, efforts by our federal government to stop the flow of fentanyl into this country would do the most to push overdose numbers down further.”