Increase in N.J. drug overdose numbers suggests more needs to be done – WHYY

Jenna Mellor, executive director of the N.J. Harm Reduction Coalition, said the problem is getting worse and not better.

We are using Band-Aids for a huge wound in our drug policy, she said.

The increase in deaths is modest when compared to other states, according to Angelo Valente, executive director of Partnership for a Drug Free New Jersey. He added while the numbers have shown some stabilization, his organization is not satisfied with it.

We need to be able to make every effort to bring those numbers down and hopefully to eliminate the problem completely, he said.

The U.S. surpassed a grim milestone in the first year of the pandemic; more than 100,000 overdose deaths were recorded. That represents a 28.5% increase over the previous period. The biggest increases were seen in Vermont, West Virginia and Kentucky.

Mellor adds that New Jersey has historically doubled down on the war on drugs. According to a report she authored for New Jersey Policy Perspective, the state spent $11.6 billion to arrest, prosecute and incarcerate people for drug crimes between 2010 and 2019.

As long as we take a drug war approach, we are not going to see the reduction in overdose deaths that we so desire, she said.

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Increase in N.J. drug overdose numbers suggests more needs to be done - WHYY