FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 12, 2022

Contact: Natalie Golub, Media Coordinator, 973-382-4560, natalie@drugfreenj.org

Fentanyl, Seniors and Pills Among Topics Planned for
 2023 Knock Out Opioid Abuse Day Learning Series

PDFNJ, Opioid Education Foundation of America and
New Jersey Attorney General’s Office to Collaborate for 2023 

MILLBURN, NJ ­— The Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey (PDFNJ) has wrapped up a successful 2022 Knock Out Opioid Abuse Day Learning Series and will renew its partnership with the Office of the New Jersey Coordinator of Addiction Responses and Enforcement Strategies (NJ CARES) to host the webinar series in 2023 along with the Opioid Education Foundation of America.

“The Opioid Education Foundation of America is dedicated to providing learning opportunities for our medical practitioners, said Elaine Pozycki, CEO of the Opioid Education Foundation of America. 

“It is only together and with education, that we can best address the opioid crisis.”

The Learning Series will kick off on January 26 with the webinar, “From Pills to Fentanyl: Understanding the Opioid Crisis” featuring Lewis S. Nelson, MD, Chair of Emergency Medicine at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. Dr. Nelson will provide a greater understanding of the opioid crisis in New Jersey and what challenges lie ahead.

PDFNJ, the Opioid Foundation of America and NJ CARES, which is responsible for overseeing addiction-fighting efforts across the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, have planned to address wide-ranging topics concerning the opioid epidemic in the 2023 Learning Series, including educating families about opioids and opioid alternatives for youths through seniors, the rising fentanyl crisis, evidence-based programs for addiction prevention, treatment and recovery, and other trends impacting New Jersey.

“The Knock Out Opioid Abuse Day Learning Series is a trusted resource for New Jersey residents to learn more about the opioid crisis and educate themselves on how to make a difference in the fight against the epidemic,” said PDFNJ Executive Director Angelo Valente. “We are grateful for our continued collaboration with the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, which has been an invaluable partner in planning the series.”

The Knock Out Opioid Abuse Day Learning Series began in 2020 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic to educate New Jersey residents on various aspects of the opioid epidemic and its impact on New Jersey and the nation. It is a branch of PDFNJ’s Knock Out Opioid Abuse Day statewide initiative, which has been held annually on October 6 since 2016 to educate residents and prescribers on the risks of prescription opioids and to raise awareness of the opioid crisis throughout the state.

The 2022 Learning Series included 12 webinars that drew a total audience of more than 8,000 participants and featured various speakers discussing all aspects of the opioid epidemic, including Sam Quinones, Author of “Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic”; Dr. Andrew Kolodny, Medical Director of Opioid Policy Research, Heller School for Social Policy and Management; and former New Jersey Governor James McGreevey.

In 2021, more than 3,000 people in New Jersey died from suspected drug overdoses, a vast majority of which involved some form of opioid including prescription painkillers, heroin and synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl.

To learn more about the Knock Out Opioid Abuse Day and for a schedule of next year’s webinars, please visit knockoutday.drugfreenj.org.

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Best known for its statewide anti-drug advertising campaign, the Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey is a private not-for-profit coalition of professionals from the communications, corporate and government communities whose collective mission is to reduce demand for illicit drugs in New Jersey through media communication. To date, more than $200 million in broadcast time and print space has been donated to the Partnership’s New Jersey campaign, making it the largest public service advertising campaign in New Jersey’s history. Since its inception the Partnership has garnered 217 advertising and public relations awards from national, regional and statewide media organizations.

The Opioid Education Foundation of America is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to preventing the abuse of opioid-based painkillers that is at the heart of the opioid epidemic through educational opportunities about safer prescribing strategies including alternatives to opioids and conversations with patients.