Onondaga County Drug Taskforce

The Onondaga County Drug Task force consists of addiction specialists, public health professionals, law enforcement agents, physicians, treatment specialists, and a variety of community partners working together to combat the heroin and opioids epidemic.

For more information on how the county is working to combat the opioid epidemic, visit their website.

Current Opioid Epidemic

Use of heroin and other opioids is increasing across all social classes in Onondaga County similar to state and national trends. Two main reasons for this troubling trend are:

• Increased use of prescription opioid pain medications
• Availability of cheap heroin

What are Opiates and Opioids?

Opiates and opioids are classes of depressant analgesics derived from or chemically similar to substances found in P. somniferum, the opium poppy. They include both naturally occurring and synthetic substances. Opiates are benzylisoquinoline alkaloids, which are found naturally in the poppy plant Papaver somniferum. The psychoactive compounds found in the opium plant include morphine, codeine, and thebaine.