Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Erie County is on pace to set a record for overdose deaths in 2024. Experts point to one thing and one thing only as the main cause: Fentanyl.
Erie County Sheriff John Garcia says drug dealers have the opportunity to put whatever they want into product to extend that.
"They're being greedy. This is all about greed and no accountability and no repercussions. They're putting fentanyl in with already dangerous drugs like heroin and cocaine, to extend that product make more money," said Garcia in an interview with WBEN.
435 overdose deaths were recorded in Erie County in 2023. This year, Garcia says the pace is 500.
Garcia also says state lawmakers are not helping alleviate the problem.
"We need tougher laws against drug dealers who don't give a crap about their customers," Garcia said. "I think it's outrageous that people would put a poison in and mix it in with a dangerous drug like heroin and cocaine. So we need stiffer penalties for those that make this decision to basically kill another human being and not care about that customer whatsoever."
Garcia blames bail reform as another part of the problem.
"This is something that comes from Albany from the state legislature that does not allow us to hold dangerous people. It's New York City that kind of decides at the end of the day with some of these liberal laws that are in place," Garcia said.
He adds this is not about holding somebody in jail who cannot afford to pay their bail.
Avi Israel of Save the Michaels agrees with Garcia about bail reform being an issue.
"We had a tool at one time that if you committed a crime, and you were under the influence, you didn't get out of jail, you had two options. You either go to jail, or you go to treatment, right now. There is none of those options," said Israel with WBEN.
He says now with bail reform, you get an appearance ticket and you go right out.
"That is a problem, because people go right out and go right back to robbing somebody so they can get drug money. There's a lot that contributes into the high rate of overdose," Israel contended.
Israel adds New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has not taken a sense of urgency in declaring a public health emergency, which will require every hospital to open their emergency rooms for people with overdoses. He says it's necessary in an area that is a high intensity drug area.
"We're one of the areas that gets large volumes of drugs that come into this area," Israel said.
He also notes not every hospital is available to take people in, and there is a limited amount of beds in here that can take people in for treatment.
Brandy Vandermark-Murray of Horizon Health Services says the primary reason for overdoses is the rise in fentanyl.
"We have seen fentanyl in drugs such as cocaine. With it being so potent, unfortunately, a single use of fentanyl can lead to a lethal overdose in almost all of our opioids, and a lot of the cocaine that's in the community containment," explained Vandermark-Murray during a conversation with WBEN.
She says patients have no knowledge of it being in there, and then when they are getting results, they find out and they're just as surprised.
Vandermark-Murray says Horizon is taking a harm reduction approach to treating patients.
"If they're entertaining any use of substances, we're making sure they have the education around it, we make sure that individuals who use any drugs have things like Narcan available on them, which can help them perhaps save a life. We're also distributing things like fentanyl test strips, so for individuals who may be using substances, this allows them to test the substance to see if that knowledge in the cocaine or in the opioids to really reduce their risk of overdosing," Vandermark-Murray added.