New Jersey Drug and Alcohol Treatment Programs

Like with other states, New Jersey has a serious alcohol and drug abuse problem that affects its residents. In particular, the state experiences relatively high rates of opioid and heroin abuse. Even so, there are several rehabilitation programs in the state designed to help drug and alcohol abusers and addicts find full recovery.

According to the NSDUH - or the National Survey on Drug Use and Health - for 2015 and 2016, substance abuse continues plaguing the entire country. This is especially true with regards to opioid use disorders. New Jersey, on the other hand, has been hit especially hard by this disorder.

Today, a number of comprehensive addiction rehabilitation and treatment facilities continue providing ongoing therapy and detox services all over New Jersey. As such, you should be able to overcome your addiction to drugs and/or alcohol in the state.

Substance Abuse Statistics in New Jersey

The same survey showed that residents of New Jersey continue struggling with substance abuse and addiction in a wide variety of ways. Consider the following statistics:

• Ongoing heroin abuse in New Jersey is linked directly to the abuse of and dependence on prescription opioid pain relief medications; this number accounts for 3.87 percent of all adults here, which is close to 265000 people
• Residents of the state reported that they had engaged in binge drinking sessions within the month prior to the survey at rates of 25.06 percent - approximately 1718 people
• Residents aged 18 years and older in this state reported that they were using cocaine at rates of about 2.06 percent; this number accounted for about 141000 people
• The rates of ongoing illicit substance abuse in the state among people aged 18 years and above in the month before the survey was set at 8.26 percent; this number accounted for about 566 adults in New Jersey

The CDC - or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - also released a report in 2018 showing that New Jersey was among the top 5 states in the entire country that had experienced an increase of over 30% in terms of deaths related to opioid abuse. This was in the 12 month period that ended in 2017.

The number was shocking especially when compared to the other states in the country that showed declining numbers in the rates of death over the same period of time.

To be more specific, 1695 lives were lost to opioid use disorders within the 12 month period that ended in July 2016. Additionally, the state lost 2284 lives over the period that ended in July 2017. This rate of mortality was an increase of more than 34.7 percent.

Even so, 70121 people checked into drug and alcohol addiction treatment centers in New Jersey in 2010. This number included those who were enrolled in non-profit, private, and local rehabilitation facilities in the state. Of this number, 32.2 percent were female while the remaining 67.8 percent were male.

16363 people were enrolled in similar programs for drug abuse alone in 1992. By 2006, however, this rate had more than doubled. By this year, the state had a total of 351 addiction treatment and rehabilitation facilities. Today, New Jersey continues to be below the total national average in terms of beds that are available in treatment centers.

On the other hand, the number of admissions into such centers by people who had co-occurring mental health disorders over and above their drug and/or alcohol abuse went from 8 percent in 2003 to 21 percent in 2006.

Commonly Abused Substances in New Jersey

From the mid-1990s - or over the past 20 years - New Jersey has seen a decline in the rates of alcohol and cocaine admissions. At the same time, however, the state has witnessed an increase in the number of people seeking rehabilitation and treatment services for a heroin addiction.

Consider the following commonly abused substances in this state:

1. Alcohol

A government report from 2010 showed that alcohol was the 2nd most commonly abused substance in New Jersey. That year alone, 13710 people checked into addiction treatment centers for an alcohol use disorder as their main or primary addiction. An additional 9254 people received similar treatment for an AUD in combination with another secondary substance use disorder.

2. Cocaine

At the moment, cocaine is widely available all through the state. It is also the main substance of choice for many people in several parts of New Jersey. In 2010, for instance, 2873 people checked into addiction treatment centers for smoking this drug. The same year, an additional 1918 people were enrolled for similar treatment for using this drug by other routes of administration - other than for smoking it. Further, crack cocaine continues to be widely available in this state.

3. Heroin

This drug was among the most commonly abused substances in the state. In 2010, for instance, 22106 people enrolled into rehab centers in New Jersey for heroin abuse and dependence.

A recent news report also showed that the state experienced an increase in the relative availability of this drug since the September 11 terrorist attacks in neighboring New York City.

4. Marijuana

At the moment, marijuana - or cannabis - is the 3rd most commonly available and frequently used drug in the region. In 2010, 11041 people sought addiction treatment for marijuana abuse in New Jersey.

In general, many adolescents believe the myth that marijuana is relatively safe to use. Similarly, the drug is quite easy to get and it costs less than most other intoxicating and mind altering substances on the streets of New Jersey. This perhaps explains the current upsurge in the rates of marijuana use in the state.

5. Methamphetamine

DAWN - or the Drug Abuse Warning Network - reports that New Jersey gets more than 155 mentions in emergency departments. All of these mentions are linked with the abuse of methamphetamine.

Source information also reports that the drug is becoming more popular particularly in the Cherry Hill area of New Jersey. This is because of the waxing and waning supplies of cocaine in the region.

6. Prescription Drugs

Investigations have shown that New Jersey has been experiencing a diversion of fentanyl, phentermine, hydrocodone (including Lortab and Vicodin), and OxyContin - showing a growing prescription drug abuse problem in the state.

In 2010, for example, 7234 people sought addiction treatment for opioid use disorders apart from heroin. Another report also identified methadone, benzodiazepines (like Xanax), Percodan, and Percocet as some of the most commonly diverted and abused pharmaceutical products in the state.

7. Fentanyl

New Jersey has also experienced a spike in terms of drug related fatalities - which are largely attributed to an increase in the distribution and availability of fentanyl in the state. Fentanyl is particularly dangerous because it is 50 times as potent as heroin and some people mix the two drugs. Not surprisingly, this substance can kill users in minutes. This fact has made it difficult for many first responders and other addiction treatment experts to treat fentanyl overdose victims successfully.

Statistics on Drug Courts, Injuries and Fatalities in New Jersey

In 2007, New Jersey lost 797 lives to ongoing substance abuse. This was in stark comparison to the 446 deaths it lost to incidents involving firearms and the 719 people who died in motor vehicle accidents. Even so, the state was some percentage points lower than the total national average of drug and alcohol related deaths.

That said, the state was ranked among the top 18 in which drug and alcohol related deaths were above those linked to motor vehicle accidents. Similarly, reports from law enforcement agencies in the state and across the country show that Dominican and Columbian drug organizations continue dealing heroin and cocaine in New Jersey. The same reports show that Mexican traffickers have been moving cocaine to the New Jersey and New York regions from the American west coast.

Addiction Prevention and Treatment Programs in New Jersey

Although you can get treatment and prevention resources to deal with your substance use disorder in New Jersey, healthcare professionals and lawmakers in the state are mostly focusing on opioids - one of the most dangerous class of drugs in the entire country.

This is mostly because of the alarming increase in the number of drug related overdose deaths linked to opioid across the United States - which has brought the crisis into the spotlight for most of the residents of New Jersey.

Therefore, the state has been implementing a number of strategies designed to curb the misuse of illegal opioids and prescription opioid medications. These strategies include:

• Enhancing penalties related to opioids and other forms of drug crimes
• Increasing drug trafficking law enforcement
• Marketing and funding rehabilitation and treatment programs that use medication assisted treatment to deal with opioid use disorders
• Stockpiling and distributing Narcan (naloxone) to decrease the rates of overdose deaths linked to opioids

Last but not least, New Jersey also has many addiction treatment and rehabilitation programs that you can check into to help you overcome your substance use disorder and addiction and find full recovery in the long term.