FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 3, 2017

Contact: Matt Birchenough, 201-916-1032, media@drugfreenj.org

Camden County Residents and Experts Discuss Solutions to Opioid Crisis at Knock Out Opioid Abuse Town Hall

CHERRY HILL — Residents of Camden County arrived en masse to join the conversation on the national opioid epidemic at a Knock Out Opioid Abuse Town Hall hosted by the Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey and the Horizon Foundation of New Jersey.

The eighth installment in a 17-part series, the town hall focused on prescription drug dependency and its link to heroin abuse through a panel discussion and constructive dialogue between experts and county residents. The Camden County Town Hall was co-sponsored by the Community Alliance Network of Camden County, the Cherry Hill Police Department, the Cherry Hill Alliance on Alcohol and Drug Abuse and the Camden County Council on Alcoholism & Drug Abuse, Inc.

In 2017, there have been 200 narcotic-related deaths in Camden County, up from 167 in 2016. Law enforcement also has totaled 333 naloxone reversals this year.

“No family or community is immune,” said Angelo Valente, the executive director of the Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey. “Today we gather to learn how we can address this epidemic by preventing more of New Jersey’s residents from becoming addicted, reducing stigma, helping those already addicted and supporting those in recovery.”

The expert panel featured speakers with various perspectives on the opioid epidemic, including Assemblywoman Patricia Egan Jones; Dr. Kaitlan Baston, medical director of addiction medicine with Cooper University Health Care; John Thompson, program director at Living Proof Recovery Center; Mariel Hufnagel, executive director of The Ammon Foundation; Naomi Hubbard, executive director and CEO of the Camden County Council on Alcoholism & Drug Abuse, Inc.; and Capt. William Townsend of the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office.

“The epidemic is affecting every legislative district in this state. It’s affecting everybody in this country,” Jones said. “We need to know what you need in order to move forward in addressing this crisis.”

The next Knock Out Opioid Abuse Town Hall will be held Tuesday, Oct. 10, in Somerset County.

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Best known for its statewide anti-drug advertising campaign, the Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey is a private not-for-profit coalition of professionals from the communications, corporate and government communities whose collective mission is to reduce demand for illicit drugs in New Jersey through media communication.  To date, more than $70 million in broadcast time and print space has been donated to the Partnership’s New Jersey campaign, making it the largest public service advertising campaign in New Jersey’s history. Since its inception, the Partnership has garnered 166 advertising and public relations awards from national, regional and statewide media organizations.