MercerCountyMapTogether as a community , we can tackle the serious problem of heroin and prescription drug addiction in Mercer County and work towards a solution to the current heroin & opioid  epidemic plaguing our community and nation. This health epidemic is a having devastating effect on families and claiming the lives of more and more residents every day. We have to do our part as a community to help raise awareness and come up with solutions to this problem.

The task force will be charged with increasing awareness of prescription opiate and heroin abuse and addiction, aimed at reducing the demand for heroin and prescription drugs. They will also promote available resources for help and support the development of additional resources to treat and prevent addiction to heroin and prescription drugs. The task force members will serve as liaisons to state and local community awareness groups as well as non-profit groups and drug addiction service providers.

Heroin and opiates have become a growing public safety and health crisis creating devastating effects on the region, the state and the nation in the last five years. These narcotics are ubiquitous in every community in Mercer County and usage is on the rise.

As a county we know that no one is immune to the addiction of opiates and the task force will focus on prevention and doing what we can to address the lack of treatment options. New Jersey data shows a steady rise in prescription drug abuse in recent years. There were 8,300 admissions to state-certified substance-abuse treatment programs due to prescription drug abuse in 2013, a 200 percent increase over the previous five years, according to the state.

 

Mercer County Narcan Deployments/Deaths 2012 – 2016

Narcan Deployments

Deaths

Town

2014

2015

2016*

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016*

Population
East Windsor 0 2 3 4 1 1 2 27,190
Ewing 1 6 5 3 4 3 8 35,790
Hamilton 4 33 5 11 8 10 10 2 88,464
Hightstown 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 5,494
Hopewell Boro 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1,922
Hopewell Township 0 5 0 2 0 0 0 2 18,302
Lawrence 2 7 0 3 5 4 2 1 33,472
Pennington 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2,585
Princeton 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 12,307
Robbinsville 0 3 1 0 0 1 2 13,642
Trenton 0 8 0 14 16 18 27 84,913
West Windsor 0 7 0 0 1 0 1 27,135
Total            7          74          14          37          36          38          55            6         351,216
NJ Transit 0 6 1 1
* 2016 numbers are incomplete