By: Dylan Francis, Follow South Jersey Intern
CAMDEN, N.J. – The opioid epidemic has been a serious problem in the state of New Jersey. For many years, opioids have affected the lives of countless New Jersey residents.
According to a Camden County press release, there were 206 suspected drug deaths in Camden County in the 2024 calendar year. Those numbers have dropped from 327 through the same period in 2023.
Those numbers come at a time when the amount of prescribed opioids in Camden County is the most prescribed in the state (273,255 out of 3,010,837 in 2024) according to the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office.
Coupled with the fall in fatal opioid cases, there has been a decrease in the use of Naloxone, which is a medicine that rapidly reverses an opioid overdose.
According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, “This means that it attaches to opioid receptors and reverses and blocks the effects of other opioids. Naloxone can quickly restore normal breathing to a person if their breathing has slowed or stopped because of an opioid overdose. Examples of opioids include heroin, fentanyl, oxycodone (OxyContin®), hydrocodone (Vicodin®), codeine, and morphine.”
Since their fight against opioid overdose as a whole started in 2014, Camden County has taken action to end overdose once and for all through some of its programs. Some initiatives that they put in place are installing Naloxone boxes all over the county to increase access to the medication, making the Medication for Opioid Use Disorder program, and establishing a fentanyl awareness campaign to spread the news on how dangerous and deadly fentanyl can be and how to avoid using it.
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