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APRIL 2017
Jim Malatras
www.RockInst.org
The Growing Drug Epidemic in New York
Jim Malatras1
Contents
Summary ................................................................................................. 2
Introduction ............................................................................................. 2
Drug Deaths in New York State .............................................................. 3
Drug Deaths by Age ............................................................................. 7
Drug Deaths by Sex ............................................................................. 8
Drug-Related Deaths by Race ............................................................. 9
Conclusion ............................................................................................ 10
Appendices ........................................................................................... 11
Endnotes ............................................................................................... 15
T deaths from drug overdoses or chronic drug use are on the rise.
The same is true of New York State. Specifically, using the latest
federal data:
Deaths from drug overdoses and chronic drug abuse in New York have
increased 71 percent between 2010 and 2015.
The death rate from drugs in New York in 2010 was 9.1 per every
100,000 people in 2010. In 2015, the rate is 15.2 per every 100,000
people.
Introduction
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
the nation is in the midst of an unprecedented opioid epidemic.4 More
than 500,000 people have died from drug overdoses since 2000 nearly
ninety-one people a day in the United States.5
States are grappling with drug addiction, especially prescription drugs,
heroin, and dangerous synthetic drugs, like fentanyl. States, as well as the
federal government, have undertaken many initiatives to try to stem the
growing tide of drug addiction, including public education campaigns,
enhanced electronic drug monitoring programs, and new law enforcement
efforts. The epidemic has strained state and local resources, from
healthcare facilities to law enforcement.6
Addiction has become such a problem that in 2014 the governor of
Vermont dedicated his entire 2014 State of the State address to
addressing the states heroin epidemic.7 Most recently, the president of
Even with aggressive state action, 3,009 New Yorkers died from drug
overdoses or from chronic drug abuse in 2015, a 71 percent increase from
2010. Between 2010 and 2015, 14,173 people died from drugs in New
York State. In the preceding six years (2004-2009), there were 9,754 total
deaths.13
This steady increase of drug-related deaths has been felt across the
state, especially in upstate communities. Table 2 shows the number of
drug-related deaths per 100,000 people in each county from 2010 to 2015.
The counties listed in Table 2 were the only ones with complete data from
the CDC for each year (for a full list of counties and their available data,
see Appendix B). In many counties, the number of deaths grew
considerably over the past six years, revealing a growing problem across
the state. In Erie County, the drug-related death rate increased 256
percent (from 8.9 per 100,000 people in 2010 to 31.7 in 2015). In
Onondaga County, drug-related deaths increase 145 percent (from 8.8 per
100,000 people in 2010 to 21.6 in 2015). In Westchester, the increase was
122 percent (from 5.4 per 100,000 people in 2010 to 12.0 in 2015), while
the Bronx showed an increased 57 percent (from 13.0 deaths per 100,000
people in 2010 to 20.4 in 2015).
Dutchess County had the highest drug-related death rate of any New
York county during three of the five years analyzed (2010, 2012, and
2013); and Erie had the highest rate of any county in a single year (31.7
per 100,000 in 2015). To put this in perspective, in 2015, Erie County was
ninetieth in the nation in terms of highest drug overdose and chronic drug
abuse death rate. The county with the worst death-rate in 2015 is
McDowell County, West Virginia, with a death rate of 141.2 for every
100,000 people.
In many cases, the states recent drug problem has been an upstate
and suburban phenomenon.
In 2015, the age group with the largest number of deaths was 45-54
(757 deaths per 100,000 people) followed by 25-34 (703), 35-44 (588), 55-
65 (517), 65-74 (125), and 75-84 (24).14
2005-2015. 500
400
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
National Center for Health Statistics, Multiple
300
Cause of Death 1999-2015, on CDC
WONDER Online Database, released
December 2016. Data are from the Multiple 200
Cause of Death Data File, 1999-2015, as
compiled from data provided by the fifty-seven 100
vital statistics jurisdictions through the Vital
Statistics Cooperative Program, 0
http://wonder.cdc.gov/mcd-icd10.html. 15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65-74 75-84
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
The drug-related death rate for men is 22 per every 100,000 people
and 8.7 per 100,000 people for women. However, in both the number of
drug deaths have grown considerably an 83 percent increase from
2010-2015 for men and a 48 percent increase for women.
State 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Avg.
Alabama 7.3 10.1 11.9 13.7 14.5 12.2 12.6 13.1 13.4 16.5 16.7 9.4
Alaska 12.7 12.6 11.0 19.2 19.0 11.8 14.8 18.0 15.0 17.2 17.2 4.5
Arizona 14.5 15.9 15.9 13.6 16.4 17.9 17.2 18.4 19.7 18.9 19.8 5.3
Arkansas 10.3 10.9 11.4 13.6 13.3 12.8 12.8 13.5 11.6 12.7 14.3 4.0
California 10.7 11.2 11.5 11.3 11.6 11.4 11.8 11.3 12.4 12.4 12.8 2.1
Colorado 13.8 14.0 15.5 15.5 15.8 13.4 16.7 15.9 16.4 17.1 16.4 2.6
Connecticut 10.0 13.0 12.6 11.2 11.1 10.4 11.6 12.6 16.7 17.8 23.0 13.0
Delaware 7.9 9.7 11.7 14.1 15.6 16.4 18.3 16.4 18.4 21.8 22.0 14.1
District of Columbia 16.6 22.6 15.7 13.3 9.8 15.0 15.2 13.4 17.5 16.1 19.3 2.7
Florida 14.9 16.1 16.0 16.7 17.1 16.9 15.9 14.0 13.3 14.1 16.7 1.8
Georgia 9.2 10.0 10.4 10.3 10.8 11.6 11.3 11.2 11.6 12.6 13.4 4.2
Hawaii 11.1 10.0 10.8 9.7 11.0 11.3 13.7 11.4 11.9 12.3 12.2 1.1
Idaho 8.3 10.0 8.8 9.9 11.6 11.7 12.6 11.8 13.5 13.3 13.5 5.2
Illinois 9.0 11.3 9.8 11.1 11.2 10.5 11.3 12.9 12.5 13.5 14.6 5.6
Indiana 10.6 12.2 13.0 13.5 14.4 14.9 15.4 16.2 17.1 18.7 19.8 9.2
Iowa 5.2 6.7 7.0 7.1 7.0 8.5 8.7 8.7 9.3 8.8 10.6 5.4
Kansas 10.3 10.6 10.6 8.6 11.2 10.1 11.0 11.8 12.3 12.0 12.0 1.7
Kentucky 15.8 18.2 17.0 18.2 18.2 23.9 25.2 25.7 23.9 25.6 30.1 14.3
Louisiana 16.4 18.6 19.7 15.5 13.9 13.6 13.5 12.8 18.1 17.4 19.3 2.9
Maine 12.7 12.5 12.1 12.2 13.7 10.5 12.0 11.8 13.8 17.1 20.9 8.2
Maryland 12.4 14.3 14.3 12.9 13.4 11.7 12.5 14.6 15.3 18.3 22.0 9.6
Massachusetts 13.5 15.9 15.6 13.7 14.1 12.8 15.4 14.7 17.9 20.8 27.2 13.7
Michigan 13.9 16.6 15.4 15.8 17.7 17.4 17.2 16.4 18.3 20.7 23.3 9.4
Minnesota 6.6 7.3 6.9 7.6 8.4 8.1 10.4 10.0 10.7 10.7 11.9 5.3
Mississippi 9.1 12.7 11.4 10.9 11.7 11.9 10.6 11.0 10.9 12.1 12.3 3.2
Missouri 11.1 13.1 12.4 13.2 14.8 17.1 16.5 16.0 17.2 18.3 18.0 6.9
Montana 12.7 12.7 13.7 14.4 14.9 12.4 15.0 12.8 15.4 14.2 14.7 2.0
Nebraska 7.3 7.4 5.2 6.3 6.5 7.1 8.0 8.3 7.3 7.4 7.3 0.0
Nevada 19.1 18.7 19.8 19.9 20.7 21.5 23.6 22.1 22.3 19.5 21.8 2.7
New Hampshire 11.7 12.2 14.2 9.8 13.1 12.5 16.1 13.4 16.4 26.2 32.5 20.8
New Jersey 11.2 11.6 9.2 9.3 3.9 10.3 11.8 14.3 15.0 14.6 16.8 5.6
New Mexico 19.9 22.2 23.7 26.6 21.9 23.7 25.8 24.1 22.6 26.8 24.7 4.8
New York 6.1 10.2 10.0 9.7 9.3 9.1 11.0 11.6 12.6 12.7 15.2 9.1
North Carolina 12.2 12.6 12.3 13.1 12.9 11.8 13.5 13.8 13.3 14.4 16.3 4.1
North Dakota X X 5.7 7.3 4.2 3.9 3.2 3.9 3.7 6.5 8.6 5.2*
Ohio 12.1 14.0 14.7 15.7 11.6 16.6 18.4 19.1 21.2 24.4 29.4 17.3
Oklahoma 15.0 17.2 18.9 15.9 20.6 19.4 18.9 20.5 20.8 20.9 19.2 4.2
Oregon 14.2 15.9 15.2 13.8 15.1 15.0 15.4 14.6 13.9 15.5 15.1 0.9
Pennsylvania 13.5 14.7 14.4 15.0 15.7 15.6 18.4 19.3 19.8 22.1 26.4 12.9
Rhode Island 15.3 16.8 13.4 18.3 15.9 16.7 18.4 19.1 24.0 24.0 30.1 14.8
State 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Avg.
South Carolina 11.4 14.7 13.1 13.0 13.7 15.1 13.7 12.9 13.6 15.0 16.2 4.8
South Dakota 6.1 5.5 4.3 7.1 6.3 5.9 7.3 5.4 6.7 8.2 8.4 2.3
Tennessee 15.6 16.9 16.8 15.6 15.9 17.8 17.5 18.9 19.8 20.3 23.4 7.8
Texas 9.4 10.5 9.8 9.0 10.1 9.9 10.5 9.8 9.9 10.1 9.9 0.5
Utah 19.6 19.0 21.0 18.1 18.7 16.5 18.5 21.4 21.1 21.0 22.3 2.7
Vermont 8.9 13.3 10.9 12.2 9.1 10.9 13.9 12.9 15.8 14.4 17.7 8.8
Virginia 8.1 8.7 9.2 9.3 8.8 7.1 10.1 9.2 10.8 12.0 12.8 4.7
Washington 14.9 15.2 15.5 16.1 15.5 14.3 15.4 15.0 14.9 15.0 16.6 1.7
West Virginia 10.8 20.7 22.1 25.4 12.7 28.1 34.8 31.0 31.4 34.9 40.7 29.9
Wisconsin 10.1 11.5 11.4 11.0 11.3 11.2 12.5 12.5 15.2 15.2 15.5 5.4
Wyoming 8.8 12.2 12.7 13.6 11.3 15.6 15.5 17.2 17.0 19.2 16.9 8.1
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, Multiple Cause of Death 1999-2015, on CDC WONDER Online
Database, released December 2016. Data are from the Multiple Cause of Death Data File, 1999-2015, as compiled from data provided by the fifty-
seven vital statistics jurisdictions through the Vital Statistics Cooperative Program, http://wonder.cdc.gov/mcd-icd10.html.
1 Special thanks to Urska Klancnik, special assistant at the Rockefeller Institute of Government
for her assistance with this report as well as Rockefeller Institute Director Thomas Gais,
Deputy Director for Research Patricia Strach and Director of Health Policy Studies Erika Martin
for their helpful suggestions and guidance.
2 Inside a Killer Drug Epidemic: A Look at Americas Opioid Crisis, New York Times, January 6,
2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/06/us/opioid-crisis-epidemic.html.
3 The Center for Disease Control and Prevention had complete annual drug-related deaths for
2010 and 2015 for seventeen counties outside of New York City: Albany, Broome,
Chautauqua, Dutchess, Erie, Monroe, Nassau County, Niagara, Oneida, Onondaga, Orange,
Oswego, Rensselaer, Rockland, Suffolk, Ulster, and Westchester.
4 Center for Disease Control and Prevention, The Opioid Epidemic: By the Numbers, updated
June 2016, https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/Factsheet-opioids-061516.pdf.
5 Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Drug overdose deaths in the United States
continue to increase in 2015, updated December 16, 2016,
https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/epidemic/.
6 See law enforcement in North Carolina for instance. Jason deBruyn, Law Enforcement
Grapple With Opioid Overdoses, Blue Ridge Public Radio, December 30, 2016,
http://bpr.org/post/law-enforcement-grapple-opioid-overdoses. See foster care system
issues in West Virginia. M.K. McFarland, Drug epidemic adds to strain on foster care in West
Virginia, Herald-Dispatch,November 22, 2016, http://www.herald-dispatch.com/news/drug-
epidemic-adds-to-strain-on-foster-care-in-west/article_79fb4e70-6607-5ce7-8709-
3ad00861f677.html. See Rita Price, Ohios hard-hit Appalachia region strains to fund drug-
addiction treatment Columbus Dispatch, December 2, 2016,
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2016/12/02/ohios-hard-hit-appalachia-
region-strains-to-fund-drug-addiction-treatment.html.
7 Katharine Q. Seelye, In Annual Speech, Vermont Governor Shifts Focus to Drug Abuse, New
York Times, January 8, 2014, https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/09/us/in-annual-speech-
vermont-governor-shifts-focus-to-drug-abuse.html.
8 See White House Office of the Press Secretary, President Donald J. Trump Signs an Executive
Order Establishing the Presidents Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid
Crisis, News Release, March 29, 2017, https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-
office/2017/03/30/president-donald-j-trump-signs-executive-order-establishing-presidents.
9 Office of the Governor, Governor Cuomo Signs Legislation to Help New York State Fight
Prescription Drug Abuse, News Release, August 27, 2012,
https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-cuomo-signs-legislation-help-new-york-state-
fight-prescription-drug-abuse.
10 Office of the Governor, Governor Cuomo Signs Legislation to Combat Heroin, Opioid and
Prescription Drug Abuse Epidemic, News Release, June 23,
2014,https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-cuomo-signs-legislation-combat-heroin-
opioid-and-prescription-drug-abuse-epidemic.
11 See Combatting the Heroin and Opioid Crisis (Albany: New York State Heroin and Opioid Task
Force, June 9, 2016),
https://www.governor.ny.gov/sites/governor.ny.gov/files/atoms/files/HeroinTaskForceRepor
t_3.pdf, and the Joint Senate Task Force on Heroin and Opioid Addiction: 2016 Report (Albany:
New York State Majority Joint Coalition, May 2016),
https://www.nysenate.gov/sites/default/files/articles/attachments/htf_report_final2.pdf. In
addition, there have been a series of reports examining the issue. See Prescription Opioid
Abuse and Heroin Addiction in New York State (Albany: New York State Comptrollers Office,
June 2016), https://www.osc.state.ny.us/press/releases/june16/heroin_and_opioids.pdf.