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Josie Ensor
Sat, January 8, 2022, 12:34 PM·3 min read
A participant in a class on opioid overdose prevention held by non-profit Positive Health Project, holds up an overdose rescue kit - Getty
New York has announced plans for vending machines that dispense anti-overdose medication and syringes, as the city sees record number of opioid and heroin deaths.
The vending machines are intended to reduce the number of overdoses by increasing the availability of naloxone, a drug that works to quickly reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.
The 10 machines will be placed in neighbourhoods, such as East Harlem and South Bronx, that have been hit hardest by the drugs crisis, as well as Union Square, which is popular with tourists.
There were 2,062 overdose deaths in the city in 2020, meaning a resident is dying every four hours, according to data published last year by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The figure is the highest total since reporting on overdose deaths began in 2000 and over 500 more than in 2019.
A man found unconscious after overdosing on opioids in the driver's seat of a car - Reuters
Syringe access programs are a proven way to slash HIV infection rates by limiting the reuse of contaminated needles, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
“We know that syringe access is effective; this is just another form of it,” Mike Selick, an associate director at the National Harm Reduction Coalition, told The New York Times.
In November, New York also became the first city in the US to allow supervised consumption sites for illegal drugs, in defiance of a federal law.
Critics of the proposal, which is reported to cost $750,000 (£550,000), have said that the vending machines fail to address the most critical issues around addiction.
“I agree we cannot ignore the devastating data on drug addiction and overdoses without doing more,” Councilman David Carr, a Staten Island Republican, told the paper.
“But I feel it is irresponsible to simply place vending machines filled with syringes and Narcan in neighbourhoods, without providing addicts the support and real assistance they need,” he added, referring to a brand-name version of naloxone.
A medic holds used doses of naloxone - Reuters
In other US cities where these programs operate, some local residents and law enforcement officers have encountered legal challenges and voiced concerns that these programs could increase drug use and crime.
But opioid deaths have spiked during the coronavirus pandemic.
Provisional data from CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics indicate that there were an estimated 100,306 drug overdose deaths in the US during the 12-month period ending in April 2021, an increase of 28.5 per cent from the 78,056 deaths during the same period the year before.
Almost two-thirds of those deaths were caused by fentanyl, a synthetic opioid which can be 50 times as potent as heroin and has recently displaced other legally prescribed painkillers as the biggest driver of fatal overdoses.
The sheer number of cases of drug users has pushed some state and federal authorities to address the problem as a public health issue rather than a criminal justice one.
Josie Ensor
Sat, January 8, 2022, 12:34 PM·3 min read
A participant in a class on opioid overdose prevention held by non-profit Positive Health Project, holds up an overdose rescue kit - Getty
New York has announced plans for vending machines that dispense anti-overdose medication and syringes, as the city sees record number of opioid and heroin deaths.
The vending machines are intended to reduce the number of overdoses by increasing the availability of naloxone, a drug that works to quickly reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.
The 10 machines will be placed in neighbourhoods, such as East Harlem and South Bronx, that have been hit hardest by the drugs crisis, as well as Union Square, which is popular with tourists.
There were 2,062 overdose deaths in the city in 2020, meaning a resident is dying every four hours, according to data published last year by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The figure is the highest total since reporting on overdose deaths began in 2000 and over 500 more than in 2019.
A man found unconscious after overdosing on opioids in the driver's seat of a car - Reuters
Syringe access programs are a proven way to slash HIV infection rates by limiting the reuse of contaminated needles, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
“We know that syringe access is effective; this is just another form of it,” Mike Selick, an associate director at the National Harm Reduction Coalition, told The New York Times.
In November, New York also became the first city in the US to allow supervised consumption sites for illegal drugs, in defiance of a federal law.
Critics of the proposal, which is reported to cost $750,000 (£550,000), have said that the vending machines fail to address the most critical issues around addiction.
“I agree we cannot ignore the devastating data on drug addiction and overdoses without doing more,” Councilman David Carr, a Staten Island Republican, told the paper.
“But I feel it is irresponsible to simply place vending machines filled with syringes and Narcan in neighbourhoods, without providing addicts the support and real assistance they need,” he added, referring to a brand-name version of naloxone.
A medic holds used doses of naloxone - Reuters
In other US cities where these programs operate, some local residents and law enforcement officers have encountered legal challenges and voiced concerns that these programs could increase drug use and crime.
But opioid deaths have spiked during the coronavirus pandemic.
Provisional data from CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics indicate that there were an estimated 100,306 drug overdose deaths in the US during the 12-month period ending in April 2021, an increase of 28.5 per cent from the 78,056 deaths during the same period the year before.
Almost two-thirds of those deaths were caused by fentanyl, a synthetic opioid which can be 50 times as potent as heroin and has recently displaced other legally prescribed painkillers as the biggest driver of fatal overdoses.
The sheer number of cases of drug users has pushed some state and federal authorities to address the problem as a public health issue rather than a criminal justice one.
