BILL NUMBER: S1811
SPONSOR: FERNANDEZ
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To designate May ninth as Opioid Awareness Day
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 adds Opioid Awareness Day.
Section 2 sets the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Opioids, such as heroin, prescription painkillers, and illicitly manu-
factured fentanyl, have become an ever-growing, dire concern in New York
State. Opioids were involved in 80,411 overdose deaths in 2021; 75.4% of
all drug overdose deaths. Fentanyl is now the most common drug involved
in overdose deaths; being detected in 81% of drug overdose deaths in New
York City. In 2021, 30 New Yorkers per 100,000 died from drug overdoses;
25 per 100,000 New Yorkers died from opioid overdoses in that year,
compared to 5 in 2010. New York's opioid overdose death rates exceeded
national rates in both 2020 and 2021. Furthermore, fatalities and death
rates grew across all racial and ethnic groups, increasing nearly five
times for Black New Yorkers, 4 times for Hispanic or Latino New Yorkers,
and three times for White New Yorkers. In 2020, death rates were highest
for White New Yorkers at 28.7 per 100,000 people. Recognition of this
issue helps to encourage awareness on substance use disorders and helps
to destigmatize the opioid epidemic that is disproportionately affecting
black and brown new yorkers. Recognizing New York's opioid epidemic will
allow us to provide harm reduction strategies to avoid unnecessary
death. Through awareness, we can p rovide syringe services programs,
overdose prevention and intervention such as naloxone distribution and
fentanyl test strip distribution to better help address the immediate
health and safety for those who use opioids.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023-2024: S8816
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
TBD
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

Statutes affected:
S1811: 168-a executive law, 168-a(3) executive law