The first 911 call came at 8:18 a.m. from the city of Buffalo. Not long after, there was another in neighboring Tonawanda, and then another from Lackawanna, just to the south. Seven deaths in less than five hours, all drug overdoses, and all within Erie County, the biggest population center in Western New York and the home of a surging and intractable drug problem. “This is from the most wealthiest areas in Erie County, and the poorest sections of the inner city,” said John Garcia, the county’s sheriff. It does not discriminate.”Overdose deaths have touched cities across the country, including Baltimore, where 6,000 people have died over the past six years.

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Persons: ”, John Garcia Organizations: Tonawanda . Locations: Buffalo, Tonawanda, Lackawanna, Erie County, Western New York, United States, Baltimore