Blog
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Grandparents Caring for their Grandchildren
As the opiate abuse epidemic our country faces continues to rise, individuals suffering from drug abuse are losing sight of important priorities in their lives. Daily, grandparents whose children are suffering from addiction are finding themselves becoming the primary provider for their grandchildren and diving head first into a life they never thought would be theirs.
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Don’t Get Hooked on Drugs New Jersey Online Family Fishing Tournament
With warm temperatures and plenty of sunshine, there are dozens of opportunities to enjoy the summer weather with your family. The Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey (PDFNJ) is encouraging that quality family time is spent with the first Don’t Get Hooked on Drugs New Jersey Online Family Fishing Tournament.
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NYTimes.com - Obituaries Shed Euphemisms to Chronicle Toll of Heroin
As heroin abuse soars in New Jersey, several family members and friends of those suffering from addiction are unleashing the gut-wrenching truth behind the struggle their loved ones endured. With the Center for Disease Control and Prevention classifying prescription drug abuse as an epidemic, the necessity for proper education being provided to physicians regarding safer prescribing as well as to parents for proper medication disposal is at it’s vital peak. The following article from New York Times puts into clarity the importance of sharing a family member’s struggle with addiction in an attempt to save someone else and to raise consciousness on the prevalent substance and opiate abuse problem many across the country face.
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Over-Prescribing Prescription Painkillers Fuels Rise in Heroin Use
Below is an editorial by Steve and Elaine Pozycki. They are Board members of the Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey with Elaine serving as Co-Chair. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Centers from Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) July report documents a disturbing increase in heroin use. The use of this highly addictive and dangerous drug is now expanding to all demographic groups. In fact, the most rapid expansion of heroin use and addiction is now occurring among segments of the population that up until recently were not as impacted: women, and people with higher incomes.
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New Jersey just took a big step in helping to prevent prescription drug abuse this week
Governor Chris Christie signed legislation, July 20, 2015, that expands the New Jersey Attorney General’s Division of Consumer Affairs Prescription Monitoring Program (NJPMP), an online database that tracks the prescription sale of drugs classified as controlled dangerous substances (CDS). The bill, S-1998, expands existing law by requiring that prescribers and pharmacists register for NJPMP access, and requiring that physicians consult the NJPMP.
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Heroin Overdoses Surge According to CDC and Rx Abuse to Blame
Heroin overdoses are on the rise across the country, and New Jersey is not immune. According to a report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), heroin use has increased across the US among men and women, most age groups, and all income levels. The report found that the strongest risk factor for heroin use is prescription opioid abuse and that the greatest increases in heroin abuse have occurred in groups with historically lower rates of heroin use, including women, people with private insurance and higher incomes. Click the link to read this startling and important information.
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Many Primary Care Doctors Lack Understanding of Opioid Abuse
As NJ’s legislature considers a bill that would require prescribers to have a discussion with their patients about the potential for dependency with certain opiates, a Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health recent study demonstrates that many primary care physicians have a misconception about opioid abuse. Almost half of internists, family physicians and general practitioners incorrectly believe that abuse-deterrent pills are less addictive than standard opioid painkillers, according to the survey. The following story below was recently published in the Clinical Journal of Pain was featured in Join Together. If you are not yet subscribed to our weekly blog on trending topics in substance abuse prevention, please take a moment to register at www.drugfreenj.org/blog.
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World Commemorates International Day Against Drug Abuse
Last Friday, June 26th, I had the honor and privilege of attending the release of the United Nation’s 2015 World Drug Report. June 26th was a significant day for the release of this report as it commemorates the 28th annual International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. This report was particularly important as the UN prepares for the General Assembly Special Sessions (UNGASS) in April 2016.
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nj.com: Deaths from fentanyl, 50 times more powerful than heroin, nearly triple in N.J.
Below is an article that ran last week on NJ.com. The information is vitally important to our communities: Overdose deaths attributed to fentanyl, a prescription opioid up to 50 times more powerful than heroin, tripled in New Jersey in 2014, new data show, adding a destructive new wrinkle to the state's heroin and opioid crisis.
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DRUG USE IN THE WORKPLACE
Reducing drug abuse in the workplace has and continues to be a top priority of PDFNJ’s Drug’s Don’t Work in New Jersey program. Current research has increased the need for focus on this issue. Recently, researchers are noticing a reversal of a longtime decline of drug use in the workplace. It has been noted that the percentage of American Workers that are testing positive for illicit drug use has increased sharply.