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Suffolk Sees Dramatic Spike In Overdose Deaths

Andres Rodriguez/Australian Policy Online
/
Flickr

Suffolk County Police Commissioner Timothy Sini says there was a dramatic spike in opioid overdoses in the county last week.

Twenty-two people in Suffolk County overdosed within a 48-hour period on Thursday and Friday. One person died.  

Sini says that’s almost a 60 percent increase then what they usually see. The drugs include heroin, prescription medicine, fentanyl or a combination of the three.

“We have a 24/7 hotline that will give you the assistance, the professional assistance, to get folks into treatment. And that’s a partnership between Suffolk County, the county executive, the Department of Health and Services and LICADD [Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence].”  

Overdoses were not isolated to one community. Sini says Nassau County and New York City did not see a similar spike.

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