Cocaine Laced With Deadly Opioid Is Hitting NYC

LOWER EAST SIDE — New Yorkers looking to party might encounter a deadly surprise: Cocaine laced with fentanyl, an opioid up to 50 times as powerful as heroin. The city Department of Health plans to visit several Lower East Side nightlife spots to warn patrons about the dangerous ingredient, which was linked to more than a third of cocaine overdose deaths in 2016.

"We’re going into bars and nightclubs because we want to reach people who may only use cocaine occasionally," Dr. Mary T. Bassett, the city health commissioner, said in a statement. "We want them to know that fentanyl is in our cocaine supply, and they are at risk of an opioid overdose."

Fentanyl was found in 37 percent of the city's cocaine-related overdose deaths in 2016, more than triple the rate of 11 percent in 2015, the Department of Health said. The dangerous opioid has also been mixed with other drugs such as heroin, ketamine and methamphetamine.

Health officials say New Yorkers who use cocaine should do the drug together so they can help each other if someone overdoses. Officials also recommend carrying naloxone, the medicine that can reverse an opioid overdose.

The Department of Health will bring posters and coasters displaying warnings about fentanyl to several bars and clubs on the Lower East Side, a known hotspot for nightlife. The department will also give each establishment's owner a naloxone kit and train staff on how to administer the drug.

Health officials are targeting an area bounded by the Bowery and Houston, Delancey and Essex streets that contains well known bars such as Pianos and Max Fish.

The effort is part of the city's HealingNYC initiative tackling the opioid epidemic. Opioids were involved in more than 80 percent of the city's 1,441 confirmed drug overdose deaths last year, according to the Department of Health.

(Lead image: The Department of Health will bring coasters warning revelers about fentanyl-laced cocaine to several Lower East Side bars and nightclubs. Photo courtesy of the New York City Department of Health)