NJ.com: Mercer County deploys 600 heroin overdose antidote kits to police departments
10/30/2014
TRENTON -- Mercer County police departments were armed Thursday with 600 kits of the heroin overdose antidote naloxone – best known by the trade name Narcan.
"As of Saturday, every patrol vehicle in Mercer County will be required to have a Narcan kit," Mercer County Prosecutor Joseph L. Bocchini Jr. said as the kits were distributed to chiefs of police of all Mercer departments.
Naloxone blocks the body's opiate receptors, countering the effects of a heroin or prescription drug overdose. The drug has been used with success in pilot programs in Monmouth and Ocean counties before Gov. Chris Christie ordered the antidote made available throughout New Jersey.
To date, Narcan has been credited with saving 325 people from overdose deaths in New Jersey since it was deployed, officials said.
Mercer County had 35 heroin overdose deaths in 2013, up from 32 in 2012, according to the county medical examiner's office.
Mercer County spent $19,000 on enough kits for every patrol and detective car in the county, in addition to every detention facility. That money was provided through the Attorney General’s office's drug arrest seizure fund, First Assistant Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo Onofri said.
“The message we need to send is that every life is worth living and every part of this fight is worth fighting,’’ acting Attorney General John Hoffman, who attended the Narcan distribution at the Mercer prosecutor's office in Trenton.
“I have absolutely no patience for anyone with the perspective that saving a life using this drug is not worthwhile,” Hoffman said. “I think it’s incredibly worthwhile. When we have the ability to save your life, we will do so.”
Ernest Parrey Jr., Trenton’s police director, said while he hopes police never have to use Narcan, the reality of its need is clear.
“It’s a pervasive problem," Parry said. “And until we find a way to eradicate it, we’re going to have to find other avenues to make sure we don’t have kids dying in the streets.”
Mercer County had 799 residents admitted into drug treatment programs in 2012 who identified heroin or other opiates as their primary drug of choice, according to the state Department of Human Services.
Of those, there were 288 Trenton heroin users admitted into treatment programs — the 10th highest number in the state — along with 121 Hamilton residents and 34 Princeton residents, according to the DHS.