silive composite drug overdose
Nick, Kristina, Claire and John Porcello, stand in their Charleston home with childhood friend, Rob Stroh, and a framed photo of Joey Porcello, who died in 2013 from a heroin overdose. Kathleen Masinski was only 33 when she died on October 2014, after using heroin and Xanax in the bedroom of her Great Kills home. And Johnathan Charles Crupi, 21, also of Great Kills, overdosed in July 2012.
(Staten Island Advance)
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- As Staten Island continues to battle a growing heroin epidemic, a new report reveals that heroin-related overdose deaths nearly quadrupled in the U.S. from 2002 through 2013.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released its findings on Tuesday, warning that the trend only appears to be getting worse.
Between 2011 and 2013, heroin-involved overdose deaths nearly doubled, with more than 8,200 people dying in 2013 alone, the report says.
Groups with historically lower rates of heroin use, including women and people with higher incomes, showed the greatest increases for using the drug over the past few years, according to the CDC.
Even so, heroin use has increased among all demographic groups, the study shows.
An infographic from the CDC showing the increase in heroin use in the United States. (CDC website)
"Heroin use is increasing at an alarming rate in many parts of society, driven by both the prescription opioid epidemic and cheaper, more available heroin," said CDC Director Tom Frieden, calling for an "all-of-society" response to reverse this trend.
Staten Island appears to be following this nationwide trend.
In 2013, the borough had the second-highest heroin-related overdose death rate in the city, falling just behind the Bronx.
ISLAND DEATHS
That year, 32 people from Staten Island died of a heroin-involved overdose, according to the city's Health Department.
Neighborhoods including South Beach-Tottenville and Willowbrook ranked among the highest for overdose deaths involving heroin in the five boroughs, city data shows.
Healthcare experts on Staten Island have long said that heroin was making a comeback in the borough after new laws made prescription painkillers harder to obtain and, as a result, more expensive.
"It's scary how many people are dying," said Alicia Reddy, who runs a local support group, Addiction Angels, which helps addicts seek treatment and also educates the public on the pitfalls of drug use.
"A lot of these kids I try to help are still using, and everyday I worry that their family is going to get that phone call saying they died," Reddy said.
RECENT RISE SEEN
Reddy and members from several healthcare groups, such as Community Health Action of Staten Island, have noted an apparent sharp rise in suspected heroin-related overdose deaths in the borough over the past year.
The city's Health Department currently only has data for heroin-overdose deaths on Staten Island through 2013, a spokeswoman said, noting that a report with updated numbers for 2014 will be released later this year.
Still, a joint effort involving law enforcement, healthcare experts and lawmakers on Staten Island is already having an impact.
Among recent changes are a citywide expansion of a Staten Island pilot program that equips police officers with naloxone, a drug that can reverse the affects of opioid and heroin overdoses.
There have also been naloxone training sessions on Staten Island, where members of the public can learn how to properly administer the drug and receive their own overdose rescue kit.
During a recent demonstration in Huguenot, healthcare experts stressed the seriousness of the Island's heroin epidemic.
"It's mind-boggling how rampant it is on our Island," said Kevin Keeley, a nurse manager from CHASI, who led the naloxone training session earlier this month.
See below for key findings from the CDC report:
- Nearly all (96 percent) people who reported heroin use also reported using at least one other drug in the past year with more than half (61 percent) using at least three other drugs.
- The people most at-risk of heroin abuse or dependence include non-Hispanic whites, men, 18-to-25 year-olds, people with an annual household income less than $20,000, Medicaid recipients, and the uninsured.
- Significant increases in heroin use were found in groups with historically low rates of heroin use, including women and people with private insurance and higher incomes. The gaps between men and women, low and higher incomes, and people with Medicaid and private insurance have narrowed in the past decade.
- As heroin abuse or dependence has increased so has heroin-related overdose deaths. From 2002 through 2013, the rate of heroin-related overdose deaths nearly quadrupled.