Opioid resurgence: Why are overdose rates in Erie County still rising?

Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - The opioid epidemic continues to be a significant talking point as a crisis facing many in the Western New York community.

Earlier this week, law enforcement officials publicly called to support a bill package in Albany to further combat the problems Erie County and New York State are dealing with surrounding the opioid crisis.

Then on Thursday, county lawmakers met with local programs and organizations that are on the front lines dealing with those in the community dealing with addiction, and trying to do their part to combat the opioid epidemic.

Thursday's meeting was held with Erie County having seen a substantial increase in fatal and non-fatal overdoses due to opioids. To date in 2024, the Erie County Department of Health has confirmed 118 people have died from an overdose, with 95 of those deaths found to be opioid-related.

On top of that, an additional 98 people are suspected to have died from an overdose in Erie County this year alone.

In 2023, Erie County experienced the highest number of overdose deaths with the majority of fatalities being related to fentanyl mixed with cocaine, according to the Erie County Department of Health. The Department of Health confirmed that a total of 436 people died from an overdose, with 366 of those deaths being opioid-related. That surpasses the previous height of 324 overdose deaths in 2016.

With there being more programs and resources available for residents to utilize when dealing with addiction and drug use, as well as the county's Opioid Task Force trying to crack down on opioids in the region, why are overdose totals still rising in Erie County?

During Thursday's robust conversation, Brandy Vandermark-Murray, President of Horizon Health Services, pointed to a couple of factors the community is dealing with surrounding the opioid epidemic.

Perhaps the biggest factor is fentanyl that is in a lot of the drug supply in the community already.

"It's not just in the opioids that people have historically been using, but it's in substances like cocaine. So a lot of non-traditional users who perhaps don't identify as having an opioid use disorder are finding themselves in circumstances where they're having both fatal and non-fatal overdoses," said Vandermark-Murray in an interview with WBEN. "The other thing we talked about, too, is counties, particularly in our area, are doing a better job of identifying how people have died, and so those numbers are becoming more-and-more accurate. Not all counties have that ability to have that data really be available."

Another item Vandermark-Murray pointed out on Thursday with programs across the board is a lot of individuals who have been using over significant periods of time are becoming older, and they're more likely to be medically compromised.

District 10 Legislator Lindsay Lorigo has been waiting to have this conversation between lawmakers and these local organizations and programs dealing with the opioid crisis head-on. She felt it was important to hear from those with boots on the ground and know more than the county does about how to deal with these opioid issues.

From what she heard from the local program leaders on Thursday, Lorigo agrees with the assessment of a different population that's dealing with the fentanyl and dealing with drugs that are being laced.

"It's not just opioids, it's not just heroin anymore. It's cocaine. It's other drugs that people, unfortunately, use, and now they're laced with these different opioid drugs and they're overdosing. They don't know what they're taking, I've heard of it across the board," said Lorigo on Thursday following the meeting. "It doesn't matter where you live, people are affected by this. It's parents, it's teenagers. It's not just an identified population like we've dealt with before. The whole situation has completely evolved. Unfortunately, the fentanyl, I've heard from some police organizations that it's actually a draw. When people hear, 'Oh, that's laced with something,' it's a draw, because it has a different type of high. I mean, it's a completely different beast than we've ever dealt with before."

One of the biggest challenges programs like Horizon Health Services is trying to overcome is making sure they're improving access to pivotal resources to help those with addiction across the board.

"When individuals are reaching out for help, making sure we have the ability to meet them where they're at, be able to see them in a timely fashion not just for clinical work, but make sure that we are able to get them linked with our medical providers for medications that can help manage some of those cravings and urges," Vandermark-Murray explained. "We really want to make sure that everyone in the community is trained in overdose prevention with Narcan, so that becomes just a regular intervention with all individuals, regardless if their identifying if they have a substance use disorder. Those are things that are really important."

While making sure those resources are readily available for the public, it's another challenge when dealing with individuals who may be contemplative when seeking help.

"We're trying to be creative on how we engage them. Using peers, making sure they understand they can seek services even if they continue to use, and really using kind of that harm reduction focus and trying to help individuals understand there are tools we can try to help keep them safe, removing stigma and shame," Vandermark-Murray noted. "But really, all of those are things that we're really working towards to try and help our community."

Another point Vandermark-Murray tried to acknowledge on Thursday is the workforce, through these programs or other county employees fighting the opioid epidemic, continues to face a mounting challenge.

"This is a very difficult job. This is a job that is meaningful and it's important, and it takes a toll on a lot of our first responders and our staff that are working with individuals," she said. "We're really emphasizing the need for funding to keep people in the field, and make sure their wellness is also taken care of."

Vandermark-Murray notes studies have been showing that a majority of the overdoses in Erie County have been related to fentanyl, even if people sometimes don't even know what they're taking is laced with the highly addictive drug.

"That's the really tricky part. If people are using any drugs, [they should] really not only use things like fentanyl test strips to test the drugs, if you're going to use, but opportunities to make sure you're not using alone, making sure that you have opportunities to have Narcan around you," Vandermark-Murray said. "Unfortunately, we're in a situation in our community where it's safe to assume that all drugs, perhaps, can have fentanyl in them, particularly cocaine and opioids."

From the county's perspective, the message officials are trying to make more now is this is not just an opioid problem and it's not just a drug problem. It's an addiction problem, a disease that needs to be dealt with.

"It really comes down to education, giving the resources," Lorigo said. "I do think back and I've heard about it from my police organizations, they look at how mental health services are dealt with. There's the lockdown period, there's follow ups, there's medication, you have to go to court if you're not going to take the medication. We need to start dealing with this. People don't always want help, you can't help somebody that doesn't want to help, but we need to be more aggressive about it in Erie County."

While there's been plenty of work done with trying to curb the overdose rate and the opioid epidemic itself, what more needs to happen in order to find a solution to lower the rates of opioid-related overdose deaths in Erie County?

Lorigo feels it all starts with having more of these conversations surrounding the latest efforts to combat the opioid epidemic. The more lawmakers and other local officials hear from the professionals and experts, the more solutions that can be generated for the community.

"In 2016, when the county actually dealt with this and we had a decline in deaths, we were having monthly conversations in Health and Human Services. We were getting reports from the community organizations, we were getting reports from the Health Department," Lorigo said. "I know what I hear from the communities in my district, as well as my police departments, is nobody's talking about the problem, so the problem isn't going to be addressed. So I think as the legislative body, I have to say the county dropped the ball. It's time to pick it back up and start having these conversations. We can't lose a pulse on something that's literally killing Erie County residents."

From Vandermark-Murray's perspective, she feels it's very important to set realistic expectations with tackling the bigger problems surrounding the epidemic.

"We have been talking about this for a few years, but we have had an opioid crisis, really, for 20 years at this point, maybe even more. It's going to take time until those numbers start to move," Vandermark-Murray stated. "I think as a community, we have to work together, so all of us have the opportunity to challenge the stigma. That can be in things like primary care, that can be in things like schools, that can be in things such as churches, and really having open dialogue so that way when people are using substances and they want help, we all have resources to share with them because we all have opportunities to help people engage into a recovery, if they choose to."

For anyone that may be struggling with substance use or mental health, or have a family member who's struggling, Horizon Health Services is available to share resources at (716)-831-1800. Their Patient Engagement Center can always answer questions for individuals if they are looking for treatment options.