Melanie Anzidei , Staff Writer, @melanieanzidei

Those points were driven home at the Knockout Opioid Abuse town hall held at Bergen Community College in Paramus on Wednesday, when a group of experts took the stage and addressed a room filled with people affected by the epidemic.

There were mothers who lost sons to overdoses, neighbors who came together to create support groups,  and even people battling for their own recovery. They sat alongside police chiefs, uniformed officers, students and township officials from municipalities across the county. Every individual in the room shared a common goal: to find a solution to the opioid epidemic that has taken a toll in their communities.

The town hall series, an initiative by the Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey and sponsored by the Horizon Foundation for New Jersey, is meant to address the opioid epidemic in the state, and to spark a conversation that could lead to potential solutions, said PDFNJ Executive Director Angelo Valente.

“There is not a day that goes by without hearing or seeing a story in our neighborhood or in our media on the impact of the misuse of prescription medication, heroin abuse, the countless overdoses impacting our communities, and so many families dealing with the day-to-day challenge of this disease,” said Valente, in addressing the town hall. “Bergen County is not immune. No family or community in our state, or in our nation, is immune.” 

The town hall featured guest speakers, and a five-person panel of experts with backgrounds in law enforcement, medicine, treatment and prevention. 

The panel included: Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir S. Grewal; Michael Kelly, professor and chairman of Seton Hall-Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine; Samantha Harries, director of The Center for Alcohol and Drug Resources; Sue A. Marchese-Debiak, director of the Division of Addiction Services for Bergen County; and Joel Pomales, director of Clinical Outreach and Advocacy for SOBA College Recovery.

By having these experts from different disciplines come together, the community can discuss the opioid epidemic from various viewpoints. That, organizers said, provides residents with a clear picture of the local resources available to them, as well as ways that community leaders can unite to address the issue more effectively.

A big part of the problem, according to experts and attendees on Wednesday, is the stigma associated with opioid abuse and addiction. Because of that stigma, those battling addiction may be too ashamed to seek help.

Another problem, Kelly noted, is the way doctors prescribe the opioids. 

“About three years ago I was asked to give a lecture at a national meeting on the burden of opioids, and in researching that lecture it became very apparent to me why I should be on this podium – because I’m part of the problem,” said Kelly. “Me, and the associated surgeons, physicians, oral surgeons, dentists in this entire country.”

Kelly then cited a sobering statistic: Twelve states in the U.S. had more opioid prescriptions in 2012 than the populations of those states. He added, “Perhaps we can help this fight by preventing it in the first place.”

In Bergen County, the Prosecutor’s Office has spearheaded several initiatives to combat distribution in the county. The office also piloted a Heroin Addiction Treatment Program in Paramus, Lyndhurst and Mahwah, where police departments will connect addicts with treatment, rather than arrest those who come to their departments seeking help.

However, said Grewel, stakeholders in the county need to come together for all of their efforts to see fruition.

Several attendees of the town hall addressed the panel during a question-and-answer period. Most were leaders of their own community groups tackling the opioid problem, relatives affected by the epidemic with concerns of how the recovery process can be improved, or individuals with their own ambitious ideas of how to help.

“This is part of the issue that we’re trying to address at the county” level, said Grewel. “There are so many people in this room – so many different stakeholders who are trying to do so many different things. And, there’s a complete lack of coordination among all of us. That’s part of the problem."

That’s why, he said, on June 9 the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office will host a summit of stakeholders at 2 Bergen Plaza in Hackensack from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. to keep the local conversation going.

This week’s town hall was the fourth in the series, which organizers say will reach residents in all 21 counties. The next scheduled town hall will be on Sept. 27 at Rowan College in Gloucester County.