Opioid Epidemic in New York Spends Millions on Treatment and Support

SAN DIEGO, April 05, 2018 -- Heroin Detox Clinics, a national directory for treatment centers released a new treatment page the city of New York. New York City is tackling this opioid epidemic head on by injecting millions to fund new programs, education, support and treatment for addicts with the hope of lowering the overdose deaths plaguing the country. For addiction treatment in New York City for opioids or Heroin please contact the helpline provided at the bottom.

Opioid Epidemic In New York Spends Millions on Treatment and Support

New York City is adding an extra $22 million to its citywide plan to fight the opioid crisis—bringing the total investment to $60 million a year. Each program hits this problem at a different angle in an effort to save as many lives as possible.  There are programs to educate.  Programs to find and stop the distribution of both illegal drugs such as heroin, fentanyl and carfentanil but also be much more judicial in the prescription of pain medications that lead to this deadly addiction.  Connecting addicts to available drug treatment options and creating awareness of available programs through advertising.  Supplying Naloxone and providing the training on how to use it properly to save a life of someone who has overdosed. 

City officials say that more New Yorkers have died from drug overdoses in 2016 than suicides, homicides and vehicular crashes combined. Healing NYC is the city’s response to preventing drug overdose deaths and helping those at risk. Healing NYCprovides additional resources to spread the word about overdose warning signs, educate clinicians how to prescribe opioid pain relievers judiciously, and help lift the stigma and shame that keep so many people from seeking treatment. This program will invest $38 million annually to attack this problem from all angles. 100,000 Naloxone kits will be distributed to first responders, health care providers, and shelter staff in an effort to save lives of those who have overdosed. Seventeen thousand police officers have been trained in the use of naloxone, and 13,000 are currently carrying it. Through educating the public to the dangers of opioids as well as the life saving use of naloxone, educating the prescribers of opioids to do so responsibly, establishing peer intervention groups at hospitals,  creating public awareness of the mental health issues, creating more treatment centers for addiction and mental health services, as well as adding 84 NYPD detectives to combat the dealers bringing the drugs into the city, New York City hopes to see a substantial drop in overdose deaths by 2022.

Through Healing NYC, FDNY EMS will launch the Leave Behind program.  They will distribute 5,000 naloxone kits every year to homes they visit when responding to overdose calls. That program will begin at the end of summer 2018.  By the spring, DOHMH will establish the End Overdose Training Institute, which will show 25,000 New Yorkers a year how to dispense and distribute naloxone.

New York State has implemented an overdose education and naloxone distribution (OEND) program in the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS). The program is a creative effort between the New York State Department of Health, DOCCS, and the Harm Reduction Coalition. The goal is to teach all soon-to-be-released people in state correctional facilities about the risks of opioid use after not being able to use the drugs while incarcerated. The program trains them and their families how to use naloxone. It is provided free of charge upon release.

The funding will also help the city expand the HOPE program, which reroutes people arrested on low-level drug offenses into treatment, rather than jail. The city will finance peer workers on Staten Island and start a new HOPE program in the Bronx. The city is estimating 1,400 individuals a year will be diverted from the criminal justice system. Detox and rehabilitation treatment centers can provide the tools to anyone seeking sobriety. Opioid addiction hits every age group, every ethnicity, every income level and leaves no group untouched.  Providing education of the treatments available can help addicts and their loved ones find a program that will defeat the ongoing struggle and give them the support they need to succeed.

Contact Info: 
Author: Kevin Leonard
Organization: Heroin Detox Clinics
Address: 27420 Jefferson Ave, Temecula, CA 92590
Phone: 888-325-2454

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://resource.globenewswire.com/Resource/Download/56a9a8e6-9202-41fc-9d30-296a24c53822