Philadelphia in the Cross Hairs of the Opiate Crisis: 70 Deaths in 30 Days
For years, Philadelphia has been one of the epicenters of the opioid epidemic. Addicts have flocked to the Kensington area of the city for its strong, fentanyl-laden dope for years. While many of the addicts live in the city itself; many others come from surrounding states like New Jersey or New York to get rid of their withdrawal sickness and pick up a few bundles. But as time goes on, the problem has gotten worse for the city and more people are dying than ever from fatal overdoses.
In the first nine months of 2017, over 950 people died from drug overdoses, with around 85% of them from opiates. The Medical Examiner is stunned by the sheer number of people dying from drug abuse and expects the final numbers from this year to surpass 1,200 drug-related deaths. It’s certainly been a record-breaking year, especially over the last month. From mid-November to mid-December, there have been 70 opiate-related deaths in Philadelphia. Sam Gulino, the local Medical Examiner said,
“If we can avoid going up to 1,500 deaths
that will be a victory in itself.”
Kensington is the hardest-hit part of the city and it’s just crumbling around itself as the opiate crisis overtakes it. Fentanyl, a synthetic opiate, is the main culprit and has caused nearly 70% of all the city’s overdoses. As of September of this year, the number of drug overdoses has already eclipsed the total amount for the entire year of 2016 and the problem doesn’t show any signs of slowing. Over the last 6 months, the city gave out nearly 19,000 doses of Narcan, an opiate overdose reversal drug. The police department in the East Division alone saved 298 people using Narcan. As of the end of September, the Philadelphia fire department had administered Narcan to over 4,500 people who almost lost their lives due to their opiate addiction. The problem has gotten so bad that average, everyday people are giving Narcan to friends, family, and even strangers. While it’s a good thing to save lives this way, it illustrates the extreme problem not only the city is having, but the entire country. While the problem is still extreme and breaking records every day, deaths in Philadelphia slowed down a bit this past fall, interestingly enough, and Narcan is the very thing that helped to slow the death rate and save countless addicts from the brink of death. Paramedics have given Narcan to more than 4,000 people this year and the number just continues to climb.
Philadelphia is just one of many American cities that has found itself smack in the middle of the drug problem. Just like Philadelphia, many other cities throughout the country are seeing mounting deaths, families are being torn apart, and young addicts are losing their battles too soon. Thankfully, Narcan has been made widely available generally to anyone who needs it. Many states have made Narcan available over-the-counter at most pharmacies and Good Samaritan laws protect those administering it. Check your local state laws to see if you can carry Narcan. You never know when you might need it.
To find out more about Narcan:
Sources Used:
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/opioid-crisis-heroin-overdoses-philadephia.html?mobi=true
