In the News

  • news12.com: Attorney General Eric Holder issues anti-heroin video message

    Posted 3/11/2014

    Angelo Valente, Ex. Dir. of PDFNJ, says New Jersey has been focused on the issue for years and warns heroin has reached what he calls epidemic levels in the state. He says the problem exists in all communities, not just urban areas.

  • WashingtonPost.com: Holder calls deaths from heroin overdoses an ‘urgent and growing public health crisis’

    Posted 3/10/2014

    The Obama administration called attention on Monday to the nationwide surge in heroin abuse, with Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. saying a spike in overdoses from the deadly drug constitutes “an urgent and growing public health crisis.”

  • Galloway.Patch.com - Prescription Drug Drop Box Installed in Mays Landing

    Posted 3/7/2014

    With the support and collaboration of Actavis, PDFNJ – the parent organization of the American Medicine Chest Challenge, recently awarded the Atlantic Co. Sheriff’s Office with a permanent collection box for the disposal of unused, unwanted, and expired medicine, the 79th permanent collection in the state of NJ.

  • AMCC Provides Atlantic Co. Residents an Opportunity to Safely Dispose of their Unwanted Rx Medicines

    Posted 3/6/2014

    With the support and collaboration of Actavis, PDFNJ – the parent organization of the American Medicine Chest Challenge, recently awarded the Atlantic Co. Sheriff’s Office with a permanent collection box for the disposal of unused, unwanted, and expired medicine, the 79th permanent collection in the state of NJ. The box will be located in the vestibule of the Mays Landing Criminal Court Complex, which is open to the public from 7:30am to 5pm Monday through Friday.

  • tomsriver.patch.com: HEROIN in Ocean County: No Longer Somewhere Else

    Posted 2/28/2014

    No longer the scariest drug, heroin is now among the easiest to get. It's among the most accessible; especially the high. And as it becomes cheaper and more available, it's no longer the problem that's happening "elsewhere." Small towns, big cites, even rural farmland areas - they're all coming to grips with the sad fact that the number of cases in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and elsewhere has skyrocketed in just a matter of a few years.

  • Union County Duo Advances to Finals in New Jersey Shout Down Drugs Competition

    Posted 2/18/2014

    he votes have been counted! The Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey (PDFNJ) announced today that Teddy Cole and Kate Parker, of Union County, are this year’s New Jersey Shout Down Drugs (NJSDD) “Online Voting People’s Choice Finalist”.

  • NY Times (via Reuters): U.S. Drug Czar Urges Police to Carry Heroin Overdose Treatment

    Posted 2/11/2014

    WASHINGTON — The Obama administration on Tuesday urged more local police and fire departments to equip their officers with a medication used to revive people who have overdosed on heroin, citing a troubling increase in deaths from the drug.

  • NYTimes.com: Prescription Painkillers Seen as a Gateway to Heroin

    Posted 2/10/2014

    The life of a heroin addict is not the same as it was 20 years ago, and the biggest reason is what some doctors call “heroin lite”: prescription opiates. These medications are more available than ever, and reliably whet an appetite that, once formed, never entirely fades.

  • CNN.com: One snapshot in a tragic national picture: Long Island sees exploding heroin use

    Posted 2/9/2014

    New York (CNN) -- The first time Chris shot up heroin, he was too scared to do it himself. So his friend did it for him -- when he was 16. "I would shoot up mostly in my feet," he said. "It escalated to almost five or six bags every time I shot up."

  • NY Times: How to Stop Heroin Deaths

    Posted 2/7/2014

    I am an emergency physician at NYU Langone Medical Center and Bellevue Hospital, but I rarely see victims die of heroin overdose because most fatalities occur before patients get to the hospital. Overdoses often take place over one to three hours. People just slowly stop breathing; often they are assumed to be sleeping deeply, or they are alone.