fentanyl

Press release:

Fentanyl is now the leading cause of death for Americans 18 to 45 years old. It is being mixed illegally with drugs like counterfeit painkillers, heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine. Fentanyl is 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine, so the lethal dose is much smaller. You cannot see, taste, or smell fentanyl, but there is something you can do to protect others. Getting trained to administer Naloxone can help get those that are experiencing an overdose the time they need to get help. Naloxone is an FDA-approved medication that works to reverse an opioid overdose, including a fentanyl overdose. Naloxone works as an opioid antagonist by binding to opioid receptors and blocking the effects of opioids.

In Genesee County, fentanyl has caused a large number of deaths, and has even been found mixed in with other drugs. Since 2018, there have been 58 fatal opioid overdoses in the county, with 10 additional deaths still pending official causes of death as of November 2022. In 2020, Genesee County experienced 15 fatal opioid overdoses (25.7 per 100,000). With a higher fatal opioid overdose rate than that of New York State in 2020 (21.8 per 100,000), it is especially important for Genesee County residents to know the signs of an overdose so naloxone can be administered.

If someone is having difficulty breathing, is unconscious, choking, or experiencing discoloration of their skin or lips, an overdose may be occurring. Naloxone can be used to reverse both fentanyl and other opioid overdoses, such as heroin, oxycodone, morphine, and methadone. There is no harm in administering naloxone if an overdose is not occurring or opioids are not in the body.

The Naloxone Co-Payment Assistance Program, commonly referred to as N-CAP, can help individuals obtain naloxone. If you have prescription coverage as part of your health insurance plan, N-CAP will cover up to $40 in prescription co-payments. This ensures there are little to no out-of-pocket expenses for those getting naloxone at their local New York State pharmacy, all of which provide naloxone through a standing order that allows you to get this medication without a prescription. To learn more about N-CAP, please visit: www.health.ny.gov/overdose.

Individuals who use any type of illicit substance or misuse prescribed opioids are at risk of experiencing an overdose. Now more than ever, it is important to have naloxone nearby. Encourage your loved ones to be trained, carry naloxone, and tell their friends where they keep it in case they overdose. Reversing an overdose can be done in four steps: call 911, administer naloxone by inserting into the nostril and pressing the plunger, give CPR if trained, and stay until help arrives.

To learn more about fentanyl and naloxone, visit:

• HEALing Communities Study Website: www.HealTogetherNY.org/Genesee
• GOW Opioid Taskforce Website: www.gowopioidtaskforce.org/
• GO Health Facebook: www.facebook.com/GOHealthNY

Those on the front lines in the battle against the opioid epidemic are unified in their message: Fentanyl is wreaking havoc across the United States, including right here in Genesee, Orleans and Wyoming counties.

“We’re seeing the human toll that fentanyl is having on our communities,” said Investigator Ryan DeLong of the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office, one of four speakers at Tuesday morning’s GOW Opioid Task Force meeting. “Probably everyone in this room has been affected (by substance use) by a family member or friend.”

DeLong and Deputy Ken Quackenbush, both trained as Drug Recognition Experts, spoke on what local law enforcement is dealing with as the scourge of fentanyl – a synthetic, prescription opioid that is 50 times stronger that heroin – has found its way, mostly from Rochester, into the rural counties.

They were joined by Emily Penrose, an epidemiologist with the Genesee County Health Department, who reported data on opioid-related deaths in Genesee and Orleans, and Christen Foley, task force coordinator, who described the basics of fentanyl and the telling signs of an overdose.

About 35 people attended the quarterly meeting at The Recovery Station, operated by Genesee/Orleans Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse, on Clinton Street Road.

DeLong and Quackenbush said that they are encountering scores of people using fentanyl through their road patrols and other drug crackdown initiatives. DeLong noted that the opioid is usually packaged in a wax envelope, about an inch square, but recently, they are finding it mixed with other substances for smoking purposes.

While police used to deal with heroin and other stimulants, Quackenbush said that he has “never seen heroin or seen heroin come back on a toxicology report” in his six years with the sheriff’s office.

“It’s always fentanyl,” he said.

Fentanyl is being distributed in both powder and pill form, with some pills in bright colors to mimic candy, the officers said. DeLong said fentanyl is much cheaper than heroin – a factor leading to its widespread use.  Last year, more than 100,000 Americans died of opioid overdose.

DeLong explained that law enforcement is staying up to date in several ways on the drugs coming into the United States:

• Through regular emails from the federal government on packaging, quantities, forms and trends;
• Through communication among all local and regional police agencies;
• Through pro-active policing such as traffic stops and field testing of seizures (confirmed by lab results);
• Through narcotics trainings at both the “macro and local levels.”

“Every deputy carries and is trained in the administration of Naloxone (popular brand name, Narcan) and we respond to overdose calls for service along with EMS (Emergency Management Services) and fire (personnel),” DeLong said. “We’re also involved in the Public Safety Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative, where we link individuals to services through GCASA peer recovery advocates (without criminal implications) and conduct Drug Take-Back programs throughout the year.”

Penrose presented charts that showed a spike in opioid deaths in both Genesee and Orleans counties in 2017 and 2018 – both rates per 100,000 people well above the national average. She said the rate has decreased in the past three years but continues to be cause for concern.

“We’ve seen a big raise in fentanyl-related deaths since 2014, where before that, the overdose deaths mostly stemmed from heroin,” she said. “Additionally, we’ve seen fentanyl in stimulants such as cocaine, methamphetamine, ecstasy and bath salts.”

As far as leading causes of death in the U.S., unintentional injuries – including poisoning from alcohol and drugs – is the leading cause of death in every age group from 1 through 44.

“When you look deeper into unintentional injuries, we see that poisoning is the No. 1 cause for the 25-34, 35-44, 45-54 and 55-64 age groups – and that’s fentanyl,” she stated.

The health department is currently involved in a new initiative, HEALing Genesee, which is working to prevent overdose death through education and awareness, increasing access to Naloxone (which saves the lives of people experiencing an overdose) and safe prescribing practices.

The GOW Opioid Task Force, in conjunction with GCASA, regularly schedules trainings in Naloxone administration, Foley said.

“We encourage as many people as possible to get trained in how to administer Naloxone,” she said, noting that just 2 milligrams of fentanyl is considered a lethal dose in most people. “It’s important to know the signs of an overdose, which including drowsiness or unconsciousness, slow or shallow breathing, choking sounds or skin tone changes.”

For more information about Naloxone training or the task force, contact Foley at 585-815-1863.

Photo: Speakers at the GOW Opioid Task Force meeting on Tuesday are, from left, Christen Foley, Emily Penrose, Deputy Ken Quackenbush and Investigator Ryan DeLong. Photo by Mike Pettinella.

DISCLOSURE: Mike Pettinella is the media specialist at GCASA.

Press release:

The Genesee County Health Department, Genesee/Orleans Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse (GCASA) and other community partners are excited to join 33 other communities across New York, Kentucky, Massachusetts, and Ohio in launching the first communications campaign for the HEALing Communities Study. The first campaign running from Oct. 3 – Dec. 2, 2022 is focused on raising awareness of the dangers of illicit fentanyl, a drug that is present in more than three-quarters of the 2,000+ overdose deaths that occur in New York each year (source: NY State Opioid Annual Report 2021). In addition to sharing facts about the dangers of illicit fentanyl, the HEALing Communities Study campaign teaches ways to protect our loved ones and community members from a fatal fentanyl overdose including: 

• Knowing the signs and how to respond to an overdose.
• Getting trained and carrying naloxone (also known as Narcan® or Kloxxado™), an FDA-approved medication that can save someone’s life if they are overdosing on opioids, whether it is a prescription opioid pain medicine, heroin, or a drug contaminated with fentanyl.

“We are eager to continue the work that we have been doing to reduce overdose deaths in Genesee County,” stated Paul Pettit, Public Health Director for Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments (GO Health). “The HEALing Communities Study will provide additional technical assistance and financial resources to help support and expand the collaborative initiatives that the Genesee-Orleans-Wyoming (GOW) Opioid Task Force is implementing.”

About the HEALing Communities Study
The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) estimates that 2.1 million Americans have opioid use disorder (OUD), yet fewer than 20% of those receive specialty care in a given year. New York State has one of the highest rates of opioid overdose deaths in the nation. A menu of evidence-based practices (EBPs) exists, including opioid overdose education and naloxone distribution programs, prescription opioid safety, FDA-approved medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), behavioral therapies, and recovery support services. Unfortunately, these EBPs have largely failed to penetrate community settings. 

As a result, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) launched the HEALing Communities Study (HCS) to identify the EBPs that are most effective at the local level in preventing and treating Opioid Use Disorder. The goal of the study is to reduce opioid-related overdose deaths by 40 percent. The first phase of the study, which ended June 30, occurred in Cayuga, Columbia, Greene, Erie, Lewis, Putnam, Suffolk, and Ulster Counties. The second phase of the study will now run through December 2023 in Broome, Chautauqua, Cortland, Genesee, Monroe, Orange, Sullivan, and Yates counties. In support of this work, Genesee County is collaborating with local partners on a newly formed workgroup as part of the existing GOW Opioid Taskforce to launch three communications campaigns:

1. Naloxone and Fentanyl Education (10/3/2022-12/2/2022)
2. Medication for Opioid Use Disorder Awareness (3/6/2023-5/5/2023)
3. MOUD Treatment Retention (8/7/2023-10/6/2023)

If you are interested in joining the HEALing Communities Work Group or other GOW Opioid Task Force Work Groups, please contact Christen Foley at cferraro@gcasa.org.

To learn more about the HEALing Communities Study and to help end overdoses in Genesee County, visit:

• HEALing Communities Study Website: HealTogetherNY.org/Genesee
• GOW Opioid Taskforce Website: www.gowopioidtaskforce.org/
• GO Health Facebook: www.facebook.com/GOHealthNY

Press release:

U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Charles E. Schumer today announced that following his push, the bipartisan Fentanyl Sanctions Act has been included in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2020, expected to pass the Senate early next week.

The bill, written and introduced by Schumer in April, will hold China and other countries accountable for their commitments to crack down on producers and traffickers of fentanyl and other deadly synthetic opioids, pushing China’s government to honor their commitment to enforce new laws declaring all fentanyl derivatives illegal.

Additionally, the legislation will provide the U.S. government with more tools and resources to sanction illicit traffickers from China, Mexico, and other countries—a critical effort, in light of the steep rise in devastating fentanyl overdose deaths.

“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, we must hold China, currently the world’s largest producer of illicit fentanyl, accountable for its role in the trade of this deadly drug. Our bipartisan sanctions bill will do just that,” Senator Schumer said.

“For years, Chinese laboratories have been cooking-up formulas of death and freely exporting lethal fentanyl across Upstate New York, and to many other places across America, where it is killing tens-of-thousands of people—and it has to stop. This bill gives our government the tools to enforce sanctions on nations, like China, that are illegally trafficking, and also provides new tools for law enforcement to go after opioid traffickers.” 

“When it comes to taking genuine action to address this crisis, China continues to kick the can down the road while American lives are kicked to the curb, enveloped by addiction or cut all too short by tragedy. The opioid crisis has claimed tens of thousands of lives and devastated families and communities across the country.

"In New York State, from November 2017 to 2018, approximately 2,000 people died from an opioid overdose. About 1,500 of those deaths were from synthetic opioids like fentanyl. My legislation is critical in this fight to save American lives, and I’m proud to announce that it was included in the NDAA for FY2020 and is expected to pass early next week,” Schumer added.

Specifically, the legislation would:

• Require imposition of sanctions on drug manufacturers in China who knowingly provide synthetic opioids to traffickers, transnational criminal organizations like those in Mexico who mix fentanyl with other drugs and traffic them into the U.S. and financial institutions that assist such entities. Waivers would be provided for countries that take sufficient action to implement and enforce regulations on synthetic opioid production.
• Authorize new funding to law enforcement and intelligence agencies, including the Departments of Treasury, Department of Defense and Department of State, to combat the foreign trafficking of synthetic opioids.
• Urge the President to commence diplomatic efforts with U.S. partners to establish multilateral sanctions against foreign synthetic opioid traffickers.
• Establish a Commission on Synthetic Opioid Trafficking to monitor U.S. efforts and report on how to more effectively combat the flow of synthetic opioids from China, Mexico and elsewhere.

Schumer explained that according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), between November 2017 and 2018 roughly 2,000 people died from an opioid overdose in New York State. Additionally, Schumer said that about 1,500 of those opioid overdose deaths were from synthetic opioids such as fentanyl.

Following a commitment to the United States at the G-20 in December 2018, Chinese regulators announced on April 1 that a wider range of fentanyl derivatives would be declared controlled substances in China on May 1. China has struggled to enforce its current drug laws and continues to deny that its illicit fentanyl producers are a major source of the illicit opioids contributing to the U.S. opioid crisis.

To ensure accountability, the sanctions legislation would pressure the Chinese government to move forward with an aggressive plan to enforce its announced new laws and provide the U.S. executive branch with flexible new sanction tools to go after actors, from manufacturers to traffickers, in China and other countries.

Read more about the bill here.