In the News

  • njtvonline.org: Opioid Addiction Forum Focuses on Prevention, Over Prescribing, Treatment

    Posted 4/15/2016

    These days, it’s not too hard to fill a room full of people when you tell them there’s an event to discuss opioid addiction. That’s because there are fewer and fewer lives that haven’t been touched by the epidemic.

  • app.com: Heroin Forum at Monmouth University Friday

    Posted 4/14/2016

    A forum that focuses on heroin and opiate addiction and efforts to fight it will take place at Monmouth University Friday. Speakers will delve into legislative efforts against abuse, scientific advancements, the safer prescribing of opiates and patient notification, Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, the epidemic's effect on social services and the use of the opiate overdose antidote naloxone.

  • nj1015.com: As NJ’s Heroin Epidemic is Explored, a Look at Ocean’s Efforts to Get Addicts Helped

    Posted 4/14/2016

    Finding solutions to the opioid abuse epidemic takes center stage Friday at New Jersey’s first comprehensive forum on the issue, being held by The Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey. Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato, one of the featured keynote speakers who has been leading the battle against the spread of heroin addiction, said progress that has been made through the use of Naloxone, or Narcan, a nasal spray used to block the effects of opioids to save lives.

  • patch.com/new-jersey/westfield: New 'Wave' Of Heroin Epidemic Hits New Jersey Suburbs

    Posted 4/14/2016

    A "second wave" of heroin abuse's effects has hit New Jersey, impacting young suburban users, according to a report.

  • newjerseyhills.com: 'Community In Crisis' Fundraiser Planned in Bernardsville

    Posted 4/13/2016

    Elaine Pozycki, co-chair of PDFNJ, will be the keynote testimonial speaker Thursday evening, April 21, when the local Community in Crisis (CIC) organization holds its first major fund-raiser at the historic Bernards Inn in Bernardsville.

  • NJ Hospital ER Leads Nation in Tackling Pain Pill Addiction

    Posted 4/8/2016

    If you show up at the emergency room of St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center in Paterson, you'll have only a one-in-four chance of leaving there with a prescription for opioid pain pills.

  • cbsnews.com- Fentanyl: What you need to know about the deadly opioid

    Posted 4/8/2016

    The powerful synthetic opiate fentanyl is making headlines, as California health officials recently attributed it to 42 overdoses and 10 deaths in the Sacramento area over just 12 days.

  • PDFNJ Ex. Dir. Angelo M. Valente On Weekly News-Magazine, Issues and Ideas with Chris DeBello

    Posted 4/7/2016

    On Sunday, April 3, PDFNJ Executive Director Angelo M. Valente appeared on Issues and Ideas with Chris DeBello, a weekly news-magazine program which brings heads of organizations, newsmakers, and political leaders to radio listeners on a variety of topics.

  • Poll: 43 Percent of Americans Say Relative or Close Friend Has Substance Use Issue

    Posted 4/7/2016

    A new poll finds 43 percent of Americans say they have a relative or close friend with a substance use issue, and 62 percent say at least one type of substance use is a serious problem in their community, the Associated Press reports.

  • PDFNJ Ex. Dir Angelo M. Valente Appears on Fox 5/Good Day Street Talk

    Posted 4/1/2016

    Angelo Valente [center], along with Joel Pomales [right] Clinical Outreach Coordinator and Director of Advocacy With College Recovery, will be featured on Fox 5/Good Day Street Talk Saturday, April 2nd at 6am. They will discuss with Street Talk host, Antwan Lewis, the link between Rx drug abuse and heroin addiction along with NJ Assembly bill [A3424] that would require a conversation between a prescriber and the parents of children 18 and under who are being prescribed opiate medication. The bill would also require, when appropriate, physicians to provide non-opiate alternatives to patients.