The Opioid Crisis in Poughkeepsie: Who It Effects and Why It Is Happening
Evan Martensen wasn’t always a user. He was a student at Highland High School in Highland, NY, achieving high grades and showing exceptional intelligence at a young age, most notably when it came to math and science. “When I was in high school all I remember wanting to do was go to Marist [College] and major in computer science,” said Martensen. “My mom was an adjunct there at the time, so I was lucky enough to receive a lot of aid and work towards that ‘dream,’ but unfortunately that isn’t how it went down.”
Martensen notes he had a hard time transitioning into college even though it was just across the river from where he grew up. “I knew I wasn’t far from home, but I had a hard time meeting new people [there]. I found myself going home almost every weekend even though I only lived ten minutes away, and it was a pretty dark time in my life in terms of trying to fit in.”
Eventually Martensen’s once enviable grades began to dwindle, and he went from being a straight A-student in high school to low C’s and D’s in college. “I never handed my work on time, and towards the end of my first semester I barely showed up for any of my classes, handing in papers and showing up to finals with the help of Adderall.” It was a mix of Adderall with the occasional marijuana joint, as it would later turn out, that would be his gateways into something much deeper and darker: heroin.
“To be honest heroin and prescription drug abuse [of opiates] have always been happening in places like Highland and Poughkeepsie, and I just happened to get suckered in by the people I grew up with and the way of life here,” says Martensen. According to a study done by the journal JAMA Psychiatry, the average heroin user in treatment centers across the county are white with the average age being 23. “So my brother, who happened to go to school at Marist as well, dropped out his final year there and introduced me to it, and I figured it wouldn’t be a problem because he would be there to watch me,” said Martensen. “But heroin is something I wholeheartedly regret, and ended up making me more depressed than I ever was before.”
Martensen now works as a manager at Tractor Supply Co. in Highland, and wants younger people in the region to avoid the mistakes he made. “It was a short time in my life thank God, but the high was definitely not worth the come down. I eventually sobered up in three months with the help of friends and family, but I’d never ever do it again.”
When asked about why this crisis seems prevalent in the Hudson Valley region and in particular the city of Poughkeepsie where he now happens to reside, one prevailing thought came to mind: socioeconomics. “A lot of my neighbors on Church Street are poor, you don’t see violence oftenly but you do hear the occasional gun shot outside your window, and I’m pretty sure the area being poor has a lot to do with it,” he said. “People get bored easily here because there’s nothing really to do unless you have money, so when you find out heroin is cheaper than crack, and someone brings some to a party you happen to be at, it’s a no brainer.”
EMT-B Darly Medina of Mobile Life shared a similar sentiment. “Working in the Bronx where I got my license and now in Poughkeepsie, you definitely see how economics play into this epidemic we’re seeing now,” he said. “You do see the occasional overdose in a “better-off” neighborhood, but from what I’ve seen this is definitely something that leads back to poverty.”
When asked about why it’s becoming a bigger issue in recent years, he pointed out prescription drug abuse as the gateway drug for most users. “Doctor’s are now becoming more hesitant of prescribing pain killers like Oxy [Oxycodone] because of what’s happening [now], but a couple years ago this was a big problem,” he said. And he was right- in 2012 and 2013 Poughkeepsie experienced a notable increase in opioid arrests and possessions, and was also plagued with an abundance of overdoses. “I hate getting the call that there’s been an overdose, because it’s an incredibly sad scene to walk into,” said Medina.
Medina also mentioned the rise of counterfeit drugs like carfentanil, which are synthetic, man-made versions of opiates like fentanyl that are 10,000 times stronger than morphin, and make life-saving treatments for overdoses harder because of their stronger and more toxic chemistry. “I remember I did a run recently where a man overdosed on carfentanil, and the medic administered Narcan through an NPA (nasal-pharyngeal airway) and the man needed more than one dose because he wouldn’t come to,” said Medina. “Eventually we got to the hospital [Mid-Hudson Regional Center] and he woke up, swinging at my partner and then swinging at me. I ducked and he ended up falling down a steep hill, and landed on some grass before hitting the street full of cars.”
If you or someone you know is suffering from prescription drug abuse or heroin abuse, please call Mid-Hudson Addiction Recovery Centers located at 2103 New Hackensack Rd, Poughkeepsie, NY 12603 at 845–454–4661.
