Epidemics have gripped America and the world throughout history, from the Black Death that is estimated to have killed 50 million people to the swine flu in 2009-2010 to Ebola in Africa.
But today, America faces an opioid epidemic that has been evolving for several years, bringing communities to their knees and leaving public health and safety officials searching for answers.
And this one is hitting home.
According to Bethlehem Police Department statistics, in the city of Bethlehem alone in 2018 there were 224 opioid overdoses, including 11 deaths. In Northampton County as a whole, there were 558 opioid overdoses.
Overdoses and deaths by overdose have been steadily increasing in Bethlehem since 2015, with 78 reported overdoses and four deaths in that year. By 2016, overdoses reached 109 with eight deaths and 183 overdoses with 10 deaths in 2017.
Of the 224 overdoses in 2018, over 120 of them were by whites, over 80 by Hispanics and the rest by blacks and others. Roughly 80 percent of the overdoses in Bethlehem in 2018 were male.
Individuals aged between 25 and 34 have suffered the most overdoses in Bethlehem, BPD said.
Bethlehem Police Chief Mark DiLuzio described the crisis as one that affects every type of family.
It’s a problem that has only expanded, and Nick Siegfried of the Bethlehem Recovery Center said it can have mundane roots, especially when it comes to prescription drugs.
When the prescribed painkillers run out, individuals who have become addicted will often turn to illegal narcotics, including heroin, DiLuzio said. He noted that the nature of these narcotics can significantly increase the likelihood of a fatal overdose due to the prevalence of substances such as Fentanyl.
BPD reports that the city police, paramedics and fire departments have combined to save 165 lives in 2018 through their new Naloxone administration program, up from 28 in 2016. Naloxone is a drug that can be used to reverse a drug overdose in an emergency situation.
Lehigh University Police Chief Jason Schiffer, a veteran of the BPD, described the experience of encountering such overdoses.
The chiefs agreed that despite the involvement of police, however, such drug crises are unlikely to be solved through imprisonment alone. Schiffer said the victims of the opioid epidemic may shape the nature of the discourse surrounding it.
President Donald Trump declared the opioid epidemic an official national public health emergency on Oct. 26, 2017.
Siegfried outlined the importance of long-term treatment.
DiLuzio agreed that treating drug addiction as a mere crime instead of a systemic social issue is a problem in itself.
You have not mentioned the crimes often committed to continue the addiction. My daughter has recently had two friends (male, 40’s) who died from overdoses ( ,,, a fatal overdose due to the prevalence ( with no prior notice) of substances such as Fentanyl).
You don’t have to use the overprescribed drugs. It makes sense for a doctor to prescribe enough to handle pain but the patient has a responsibility to protect themself. I used half of the opioids prescribed which made for some extra pain but left me with no desire to take additional medications.