How Bad is the Drug Epidemic in New York State?

Drug abuse has long been a major problem in the United States, as fentanyl and other opioids are only exasperating the already existing crisis, says the Council on Foreign Relations. The problem has hit home in New York state as well, as 3,026 people across the state died of drug overdoses in 2022, according to numbers compiled by NYC.gov.

That is the highest number of deaths since reporting began in 2000.

See Also: Police Say Two Men Arrested With Fentanyl in Dutchess County

The website WalletHub recently compared New York with the 49 other states, to determine where drug abuse is most pronounced and which areas are most at risk.

Is New York Better or Worse Than Other States For Drug Abuse?

WalletHub used a number of key metrics for their findings, ranging from arrest and overdose rates, to opioid prescription use, and employee drug testing laws to come up with their statistics.

What may come as a surprise to some, New York actually had some of the fewest opioid prescriptions per 100 residents, according to the study. This placed New York at 47th in the country in that category.

New York's Overall Ranking

Overall, New York ranked 30th in the entire study. If you break it down into subcategories: New York came in 36th for drug use and addiction rank, 18th for its law enforcement rank, and 32nd for drug issues and rehab rank, respectively.

Hawaii had the lowest overall drug addiction score, while New Mexico and West Virginia were the worst. Vermont ranked 17th, Massachusetts 23rd, Pennsylvania 24th, New Jersey 36th, and Connecticut was 46th.

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