Fatal overdose fatalities are soaring among the Black population, fueled by fentanyl and exacerbated by lack of treatment options and poor access to healthcare. New data from researchers at UCLA showed that through 2020, the rate of drug deaths among Black people eclipsed the rate in the white population for the first time since 1999. There were more than 15,000 overdoses in 2020 among Blacks, more than double the number from four years earlier, at a time when overdoses are soaring across the country to more than 100,000 over the past year. Researchers said the findings demonstrate the need to close gaps in access to drug treatment for opioid use disorder and harm-reduction services for Black communities, and that ending routine incarceration of drug users could help prevent fatal overdoses among people after they leave prison.
Meanwhile, Florida police have confirmed that several West Point cadets were among six young men who overdosed this week on what was believed to be cocaine laced with fentanyl while on spring break. There were no fatalities, but two of the cadets were in critical condition in hospital and on ventilators.
And finally, marijuana is almost legal in New York State—the law was passed last year, but regulations have not yet been worked out—yet that hasn’t stopped unlicensed vendors from setting up shops in New York City selling all manner of products, without any control or oversight. In Washington Square Park, for example, an open-air market has emerged, where sellers chat up buyers “as if welcoming visitors with canapés,” the New York Times reported. With sales now in a grey area, police and parks officials sometimes issue a summons for illegal vending, but largely ignore the new market.