State Sen. Pete Harckham says the opioid epidemic is so bad that state of emergency is needed to fight it.

This comes a week after New York dedicated $135 million for its state of emergency against gun violence.

New data shows Americans were four times more likely to die from a drug overdose compared to gun violence in 2020.

Sen. Harckham believes the additional resources that come with an emergency declaration are critical for treatment, prevention and recovery.

"While we've made progress and there's money coming first and foremost, we have to fix a broken system," says Harckham.

Hackham is also calling on President Joe Biden to declare a similar order to fight the drug overdose epidemic on a nationwide level.