BUFFALO, N.Y. — The terrible combination of fentanyl and illegal drugs like cocaine continue to take their tragic toll on those suffering from substance abuse here in Western New York.
There have been many warnings and arrests of dealers lacing deadly fentanyl into their illicit drugs Erie County Sheriff John Garcia said this in February about one case where fentanyl and drugs were seized. "We're talking about 20 to 30,000 hits of potential poison. That would go out to our community"
And despite resources like a $63 Million settlement from pharmaceutical companies for Erie County to recover losses from the opioid epidemic and recently another $7 Million from the state, we are seeing yet another cluster of overdose deaths.
The Erie County Medical examiner reports seven OD deaths in a six-hour period Monday in Buffalo, Tonawanda, and Lackawanna.
We discussed that situation with Brandy Vandermark-Murray who is the President of Horizon Health Services and a licensed counselor for substance abuse patients. She told us "The risk of overdose is something we have been managing in our community for at this point almost 20 years. "
Back in 2016, Erie County formed its Opiate Epidemic Task Force to attack the problem of fatal overdoses plaguing our region and earlier this year it was renamed as the Erie County Overdose Prevention Task Force
In this case, on Monday the victims were mostly white and one Hispanic and they ranged in age from their early 40s to early 60s. In two cases two people died together after apparently using the same substance.
Vandermark-Murray made this observation, "Older individuals - they use longer sometimes. They have more health issues. They said they use in isolation. And so they become more and more at risk."
Perhaps they are older and wiser to realize the risk but she says "Addiction is a very, very powerful thing and that's why it really takes a lot of resources to wrap around individuals."
Narcan and now fentanyl test strips with advice not to use drugs alone are all suggested as life-saving policies.
But again now Vandermark-Murray says there is also much more funding for peer counseling programs, medication, and substance abuse treatment including beds for inpatients. "Horizon alone - we have detox and stabilization centers as well as long-term residential programs. And some of our community partners certainly do have available beds. So I do think we have the services available. It's really just helping our community understand how to get into treatment."
And sadly she notes this issue extends far beyond Erie County across the U.S. "We're talking about over a hundred thousand lives lost. That is still a significant amount of work that we have to do "
In 2023 there were 435 Overdose deaths in Erie County.. As of April of this year, we were at 165 fatal overdoses. Again some of them are over the age of 60.
The Erie County Department of Health provides supplies and peer support for those suffering from substance abuse.
You can also reach Horizon Health Services for their programs at 716-831-1800.