Dutchess County Controversial Harm Reduction Strategy
The United States has been embroiled in a raging opioid epidemic-the roots of which began in the 1990s when the rate of prescription opioids such as OxyContin skyrocketed. Nearly thirty years later the opioid epidemic is still raging in communities of all sizes and backgrounds throughout America, especially in Poughkeepsie and Dutchess County.
The rise of fentanyl, a potent synthetic opioid fifty times stronger than morphine, has led to an increase in fatal overdoses throughout the country and is currently the leading cause of overdose deaths in America and the Hudson Valley. Fentanyl is both cheaper and stronger than heroin, causing dealers to maximize their profits by lacing heroin and other narcotics with it. The prevalence of fentanyl in Poughkeepsie and Dutchess County has increased drastically with three separate fentanyl dealers being arrested in the City of Poughkeepsie in February alone.
During a five year study conducted from 2010–2015 Dutchess County had the highest drug related death rate (most of which were opioids) of any other New York County. These negative statistics have led city officials to take on some controversial solutions in the form of harm reduction centers throughout the city. These harm reduction centers provide resources such as needle and syringe exchange programs, HIV blood testing, overdose prevention training and access to healthcare and social services.
Response from the community is mixed as some see these centers as a “necessary evil” to combat the epidemic, but others see it as enablement that will only make things worse in the long run. This program has been named as Project Outreach and is run under the Hudson Valley Community Services (HVCS). Project Outreach has been operating for the past eight years in the Hudson Valley.The project operates out of a van traveling on a rotating schedule between Beacon, Poughkeepsie and Newburgh.
However, not all residents believe in the practice of harm reduction. Retired State Trooper and former City of Poughkeepsie police officer Mike Nowak fears that practicing harm reduction is a step in the wrong direction believing it enables addicts. Overall Nowak spent a combined twenty six years in law enforcement, five of which he served with the City of Poughkeepsie police department, partly as a drug recognition expert. “It encourages addicts to continue in the cycle of addiction, there’s a certain subset of addicts on the street who will continually refuse help. This doesn’t mean we should make it easier for them to get high.”
Nowak also expressed his concern on how these programs tend to take place in low income neighborhoods, pointing out how the syringe disposal and exchange center in Poughkeepsie is located on the intersection of Mill, North Hamilton and Smith Streets, an already low income and high crime neighborhood in the City. The Project Outreach van meets at the municipal parking lot at this intersection on Mondays from 10 to noon and 1–3pm as well as Thursdays at the same time.
This past Thursday there was a small crowd of roughly five people standing in the municipal parking lot waiting for the Project Outreach van. A volunteer with Project Outreach, who would like to remain anonymous, stated “it’s a tough demographic to reach, most addicts living on the street are in a deep cycle of self destructive tendencies and genuinely see no future for themselves.”
The volunteer continued, “Having organizations like Project Outreach offers a first step in the right direction for addicts, we in no way claim to be a rehabilitation center.” The volunteer went on to point out “over the past years the county has seen a dramatic decrease in positive tests for HIV, Aids and hepatitis.” All diseases of which can be spread through contaminated needles.
Overall, the future of the opioid epidemic in the Hudson Valley is bleak as fentanyl continues to pour into the counties and locals continue to argue on a proper solution.
