Mercer County residents are invited to attend the Knock Out Opioid Abuse Town Hall series in Ewing.
The event will be held on Wednesday, May 23, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at The College of New Jersey, School of Education, Room #212, 2000 Pennington Road, Ewing, NJ 08628. 

Doors will open at 6 p.m. for registration. The event will be held in collaboration with Mercer County, the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office, The College of New Jersey and the Mercer Council.

"It is vital that residents join the conversation at the Knock Out Opioid Abuse Town Hall to better understand the disease of addiction and to share their concerns and ideas on how to address this issue," said Angelo Valente, executive director of the Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey. "This epidemic has affected every community in New Jersey. Only by coming together can we effectively explore solutions to address the opioid crisis."

The series began in 2017 and has been held in 15 counties. It focuses on the link between prescription opioid dependency and heroin use and examines the causes and possible solutions of the opioid crisis from several perspectives, including law enforcement, government, the medical community, prevention, treatment and recovery.

In 2016, the most recent year in which complete data is available, 59 people died of drug overdoses in Mercer County, according to the New Jersey Office of the State Medical Examiner. Of those deaths, 33 involved heroin while 21 were fentanyl-related.

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