Nassau officials: Deaths up from cocaine mixed with opioids

#NassauCounty Executive Edward Mangano announced the first Bi-County Recovery Health And Wellness Expo...

NEWS 12: Officials release new stats on drug overdoses in Nassau

MINEOLA - Officials have released sobering new statistics on how many people are dying as a result of opioid overdoses.

The pain is still raw for Plainview resident Lisa Kassler and her husband Lee, who held back tears as they talked about their son Garrett. The 26-year-old died in February after overdosing on heroin that was laced with the powerful painkiller fentanyl.

"He had all the love, he had every resource," Kassler says. "We spent everything we had to help him. And if it could happen to him, it could happen to anybody."

On Friday, Nassau County officials announced alarming new statistics on drug overdose deaths. Since 2010, the county has seen a steady increase in the number of people who have died from cocaine.

Officials tell News 12 that dealers are now cutting cocaine with cheap and potent opioids such as heroin, and increasingly with fentanyl. From 2015 to 2016, the number of fentanyl-related deaths in Nassau has nearly tripled -- from 31 to 81. Thirty-two people have already died so far this year.

http://longisland.news12.com/story/36220588/officials-release-new-stats-on-drug-overdoses-in-nassau