Weekly action items and updates from GHC #FairShare4Harlem
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| STRIVING FOR A HARLEM WHERE ALL PEOPLE CAN THRIVE
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| THE GRIM DATA Google's Entry into Addiction Treatment |
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| | Bloomberg reports on Google's foray into the world of addiction treatment in Ohio. The plan is to examine thousands upon thousands of data points in a recovery project, and to use this data to glean approaches that lead to success.
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- Almost 300 Americans die of drug overdoses per day
- 15% more Americans overdosed in 2021 compared to 2020
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Despite the incredible toll in lives lost and ruined, very, very few people who struggle with addiction seek (or are able to access) care: |
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- Less than 7% of the estimated 20 million Americans dealing with substance abuse sought treatment during the prior year
- Less than 20% of people diagnosed with opioid use disorder take addiction-treatment medication
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Note that Google's program offers Buprenorphine and Naltrexone for opioid addiction, and not methadone - the drug most commonly used in Harlem and notoriously over-prescribed for BIPOC patients.
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| WELCOME: The 140 West 124th Street Owners Association |
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| The Greater Harlem Coalition would like to welcome the 140 West 124th Street Owners' Association to our coalition. These new members have been struggling with the oversaturation of drug treatment programs, harm reduction programs, and shelters on their block (West 124th Street between Lenox and Adam Clayton Powell) for years. New York City and New York State need to look at super concentrated social service nodes like this block. Super concentrated areas like this serve as magnets for drug dealers who sell deadly fentanyl and feed the city's overdose crisis. |
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| MEDIA COVERAGE:
CityWatch Los Angeles Reports On Harlem's Injection Site |
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| CityWatch LA reports on the data tracked by OnPoint, and reports on Executive Director Sam Rivera's valid point that it's a challenge to define success and whether or not a safe injection site increases or decreases drug use. The Greater Harlem Coalition would like the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to take the initiative and construct a rigorous study of this program's efficacy. Part of CityWatch LA's article is printed, below:
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| "But the OnPointNYC sites require far more scrutiny. Credit to CBS2 New York reporter Jessi Mitchell for pressing OnPointNYC executive director Sam Rivera on exactly this point last week. “How are you tracking the actual reduction of drug use?” he asked. Rivera’s response revealed how limited the evaluation of the site has been so far. “That’s difficult. It really is. It’s a challenge. So for us, it’s anecdotal,” he said. That’s simply not good enough for what advocates are touting as a potential nationwide model. A serious evaluation of the program would include figures on drug use and overdoses in the immediate area and citywide, since the sites signal to the community that drug use is tolerated. We would need to follow the lives of all those who use the site: 1,700 over the past year. How many have quit drugs? Gotten jobs? Do they pay child support? If we really want to know whether such sites “work,” we would need to gather as much personal information as possible on the drug users who frequent them." |
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| ELECTION DEBATE: Harlem's Injection Site Is Mentioned in NYS Governor's Debate |
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| New York State's two candidates for Governor sparred on October 25th. One of the lighting questions regarded the two OnPoint injection sites in Harlem and Washington Heights.
Click the clip on the right to see/hear their comments. |
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