Blog
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National Nurses Week
May 6 – 12 is National Nurses Week. Nurses throughout New Jersey have always represented our state with courage and selflessness, but never more so than over the past year serving on the front lines during the pandemic, heroically caring for their fellow residents.
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Your Song! Your Voice! Shout Down Drugs New Jersey Prevention Concert
This Friday, May 7, is the Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey’s (PDFNJ) Prevention Concert for the Your Song! Your Voice! Shout Down Drugs New Jersey music competition. We are grateful to New Jersey Broadcasters Association and 95.9 FM WRAT for being the sponsors of this year’s event. This the 17th year of the competition, and we are excited to showcase these teens and their exceptional talent.
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Doctors See Increase in Threats of Violence Over Opioid Prescriptions
A recent Associated Press article shared that doctors who try to wean patients off opioids or refuse to prescribe them are facing increased threats of violence. Almost half of pain specialists who were surveyed in 2019 by the American Academy of Pain Medicine cited opioid management as the reason they were being threatened.
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Special Edition - State Senator Joe Vitale Voices Support for National Opioid Legislation
This past week, New Jersey State Senator Joseph Vitale wrote an editorial in support of the Opioid Patients’ Right to Know Act recently introduced in Congress. If passed, this act would create a grant program to incentivize states to require prescribers to discuss the addictive qualities of the drugs with patients and inform them of alternative treatment options before prescribing them for acute pain.
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New Study on Marijuana Shows A Troubling Trend Among Teens
A recent study has found that marijuana use increased among California teens after the state legalized the recreational use of marijuana for adults in 2016. With New Jersey recently passing legislation legalizing recreational cannabis, I am concerned that this will become a troubling trend among youth in New Jersey as well.
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ONDCP Policy Statement on Priorities
On April 1, the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) released its statement of drug policy priorities for the first year of the Biden-Harris Administration. These policy priorities will hopefully save lives and address the challenges New Jersey and the rest of the country are facing due to the opioid epidemic.
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A New Amendment to New Jersey’s Cannabis Laws
The New Jersey State Assembly passed a bill last week amending the New Jersey Cannabis Laws, requiring a parent or guardian to be notified if a minor is found in possession of marijuana or alcohol on the first offense. The legislation originally did not allow law enforcement to notify parents if a minor is found with marijuana or alcohol until after a second offense.
I strongly support this amendment and am hopeful that this is a step in the right direction in protecting today’s youth from experimenting with marijuana. The Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey (PDFNJ) research has shown that parents who talk to their children for at least 15 minutes a day have children who are 67 percent less likely to experiment with drugs and alcohol.
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Welcome Spring
This weekend, we will usher in Easter and the start of Passover. I wanted to take a moment to wish all who celebrate a happy and joyous holiday. These holidays usually come at the beginning of spring, which is a season of change, growth and recovery. I wish for all New Jerseyans and our country that this will be a time of renewal and optimism for the future.
Be well.
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NJ Patient Notification Law Introduced by Congress to Help Prevent Opioid Addiction Nationally
I wanted to let you know about the Opioid Patients’ Right to Know Act, a new law that has been introduced in Congress to help prevent opioid addiction across the country. This act would create a grant program to incentivize states to require prescribers to discuss the addictive qualities of the drugs with patients and inform them of alternative treatment options before prescribing them for acute pain.
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One Year Anniversary of the COVID-19 Pandemic
Stigma is a major public health issue that describes negative attitudes or beliefs associated with a particular circumstance, quality, or person. The social stigma associated with the disease of addiction can be damaging to a person’s self-esteem, their relationship with loved ones, and can prevent those who have substance use disorder from seeking treatment.
Shatterproof, a not-for-profit organization focused on addressing the addiction crisis in the United States, has published a new comprehensive addiction guide that draws attention to stigmatizing language around addiction and offers alternative words and phrases.