Heroin use in New York is above the national average

Drug testing by New Yorkers is cleaner than in the rest of the country, except for deadly opiates.

Positive test rates for heroin were higher in New York State last year than nationwide, according to new data provided by the drug testing company. Quest Diagnostics laboratory.

The metabolite that indicates recent heroin use – 6-acetylmorphine – was present in 0.026% of tests performed by New Yorkers, which is higher than the national rate of 0.019%.

PCP, or Angel Dust, was also present in the urine, blood and saliva of New Yorkers at a higher rate than the US average – 0.015%, compared with 0.01% nationally.

In the midst of a wave of legalization of marijuana for recreational purposes, adopted in 10 states so far, Quest has found drugs in 4.4% of the 10 million tests conducted in the country. Last year, a record in 14 years. But the positivity rate in New York was only 3.5%.

Although lower than the national rate, it was a slight increase over the 3.2% recorded in 2007.

The Bronx and Manhattan had the highest overall positivity rates by postal code (3.5 to 4.5%), followed by Staten Island and parts of southern Queens (2.5 to 3.5%) . The rest of Queens and Brooklyn had the lowest rates (0 to 2.5%).