While this article exaggerates Ballston Spa as the drug capital of the world and does need a bit more of the cold hard facts to back it's stance, I can help to guide you a bit in the direction of the article's belief -- while I have not yet been successful in finding specific statistics for Ballston Spa, I have found statewide statistics that are jaw-dropping. For the nonbelievers, I've been doing some research in my spare time to further back my fight for education and awareness programs becoming a mandated study in BSCSD. YOU CANNOT FIGHT THE FACTS. (All facts are retrieved from the NYS Government website which is publicly accessible to any and everyone. Specific links at the bottom of the post.) See a graphic summary of my research here: https://mhsaaofficial.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/nys-statistics-suicide-and-overdose2.pdf 1995 Hospitalizations due to self-injury: 9257 Deaths by suicide: 1469 **No drug poisoning data found. 2003 Hospitalizations due to self-injury: 9199 ----decreased 0.62% from 1995 Deaths by suicide: 1252 ----decreased 17.33% from 1995 Deaths by any drug: 777 Deaths by opioids: 186 2012 (most recent record) Hospitalizations due to self-injury: 11,383 ----increased 18.68%% from 1995 ----increased 19.19% from 2003 Deaths by suicide: 1252 ----increased 23.43% from 1995 ----increased 10.15% from 2003 Deaths by any drug: 1950 ----increased 60.15% from 2003 Deaths by opioids: 914 ----increased 79.6% from 2003 Suicide is consistently ranked one of the top 3 causes of death throughout the age groups; overall, it is the leading cause of death ranked #1, holding 20% of all deaths. It is ranked #1 for ages 10-14. #2 for ages 15-19, 25-44, 45-64, and 65+. #3 for ages 20-24. Drug overdoses from opioid use is highest in age group 15-19, 20-44, and 65-84. The greatest deaths from opioid poisoning up until 2012 (most recent record available on NYS government website) is 940, which was in 2011. If you want to see for yourself, here are my sources: 1. https://www.health.ny.gov/statistics/prevention/injury_prevention/docs/leadingcause_death.pdf 2. https://www.health.ny.gov/statistics/prevention/injury_prevention/docs/1995_2012_suicide.pdf 3. https://www.health.ny.gov/statistics/vital_statistics/docs/poisoning_deaths_opioid_analgesics.pdf More research to come. Thanks for all of your support!