Tell Gov. Hochul to authorize overdose prevention centers

Overdose continues to kill New Yorkers at alarming rates, claiming more lives than car accidents, suicides, and homicides combined. It doesn’t have to be this way.

We need to build on our advocacy that led to the nation’s first sanctioned overdose prevention centers (OPCs) in New York City, which have intervened in over 1,300 overdoses since opening in November of 2021. Unfortunately, because OPCs are awaiting state authorization, this lifesaving approach remains unavailable to the vast majority of people who need it.

That’s why we’ve been pushing the Governor to authorize overdose prevention centers to open across the state. Please join us by urging Gov. Hochul to take executive action to authorize OPCs immediately.

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Your Message

Subject

Dear Governor Hochul,

Message Body

I am your constituent and I urge you to authorize Overdose Prevention Centers immediately.
 
Over 13,500 New Yorkers have died from preventable overdoses since you took office and this number grows every 90 minutes. For the past 9 years, overdose has remained the leading cause of death for homeless New Yorkers living in New York City. Every day, eighteen New Yorkers die from an overdose across New York State. Black New Yorkers’ overdose rates have increased five-fold since the beginning of the pandemic, and Latino rates have quadrupled. New York’s Opioid Settlement Fund Advisory Board recommended funding to expand OPCs for the second year in a row because of the urgency of this crisis.
 
Because you have yet to authorize OPCs, this lifesaving approach remains unavailable to the vast majority of people who need it.  We can’t afford to delay! Please lead and show the entire country that New York is – and has been – a beacon of harm reduction.  Anything less than your immediate executive action to authorize and expand OPCs will inevitably result in more New Yorkers needlessly dying from preventable overdoses.
 
Please authorize overdose prevention centers immediately. Thank you.

Sincerely,

[First Name] [Last Name]
[Your Address]

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