Opioid Crisis in NYC Reaches Historic Levels, 'Killing a New Yorker Every Three Hours'

Fentanyl accounted for most of the fatal drug overdoses last year, which were up 12% from previous years

New York City is in the throes of an opioid crisis, with fatal drug overdoses reaching historically high levels.

Last year, there were 3,026 fatal overdoses — an increase of 12% over the previous year, according to data released from the city’s Department of Health.

Fentanyl was involved in 81% of those fatal overdoses.

Although it's legally prescribed for people in extreme pain (from surgery or late-stage cancer), the synthetic opioid is “up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine,” the CDC says. The agency points out that its “extreme potency” makes it cheaper, more addictive, and “more dangerous,” and often is abused in liquid or powder form, or made into pills that resemble legal opioids.

The drug was involved in the deaths of Prince, Mac Miller and Tom Petty — and has a long history of abuse.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

“This crisis is killing a New Yorker every three hours and is impacting every individual and family in our city and in our nation,” the city's Health Commissioner, Dr. Ashwin Vasan, said in a statement.

Among the deaths: One-year-old Nicholas Dominici, who, along with three other children, came into contact with the opioid at his Bronx daycare. The other children were hospitalized following the exposure; all of them were given Narcan.

Related: Husband of N.Y.C. Daycare Owner Charged in Toddler’s Fentanyl Death Reportedly Arrested in Mexico

Narcan is the brand name for Naloxone, which can rapidly reverse an opioid overdose, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. It can be given as a nasal spray or an injection — and in response to the opioid crisis in New York, the city began rolling out vending machines that offer the medication for free.

“Public health vending machines are an innovative way to meet people where they are and to put life-saving tools like naloxone in their hands,” Vasan said in a statement. “We’ll leave no stone unturned until we reverse the trends in opioid-related deaths in our city.”

And on Monday, the city’s Department of Health advised all New Yorkers to “carry naloxone and know how to use it.”

Of the five boroughs, The Bronx had the highest rate of overdoses, with Staten Island coming in second.

To combat the epidemic, officials in Staten Island point to the Hotspotting Program, which uses an MIT-developed algorithm to identify individuals who could be at risk of an overdose, such as people who abandoned treatment programs.

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.