According to recent data released by the state Department of Health, fatal opioid overdoses continued their downward trend, with last year’s total just over 2,000 at 2,025.
State officials attributed the trend to the various steps that New Jersey has taken to expand access to high-quality treatment and harm reduction services including clean needles and smoking supplies, which reduce disease transmission, and the opioid-reversal agent naloxone, or Narcan.
“Science is guiding our response to the overdose crisis, and the data confirms we’re on the right track,” now former state Health Commissioner Dr. Kaitlan Baston, said to NJ Spotlight News last year. “When we follow the evidence rather than ideology, we save lives — and that’s exactly what we’re seeing in communities across New Jersey.”
