With 2024 about half over, a new report has found that Camden County has seen a significant drop -- nearly 40% -- in overdose deaths over the same time last year.
According to a newly released report from the New Jersey Regional Operations & Intelligence Center's drug monitoring initiative, so far in 2024, Camden County has seen a 39% drop in overdose deaths over the same period last year.
Officials said Monday that, so far this year, Camden County has seen 109 suspected overdose deaths compared to 179 at this same point last year.
“We have worked tirelessly to combat this insidious epidemic and to see in real time that our efforts are working is an indescribable feeling,” said Camden County Commissioner Director Louis Cappelli Jr., in a statement. “This report shows that curbing overdose is possible through a variety of harm reduction measures such as making Narcan and medically assisted treatment, widely available. Furthermore, what can’t be discounted is the wide range of educational initiatives we have funded and produced to warn the public of the deadly impact of fentanyl.”
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Along with this statistic, Camden County officials claim they have seen fewer administrations of the overdose drug Naloxone -- 511 uses of the drug in 2024 over 851 at this same point in 2023 -- and an overall continual drop in deadly overdoses as the county saw 354 drug related deaths in 2022, but a drop to 295 drug related deaths in 2023.
In a statement, Camden County officials said that a concentrated effort over the last 10 years, through several initiatives aimed at ending overdose deaths, ending the taboo around talking about addiction and getting those in need proper resources, has significantly helped lower the rate of overdose deaths.
"This 39% drop in overdoses proves once again that investing in harm reduction measures and medically assisted treatment is the key to beating the opioid epidemic once and for all," Congressman Donald Norcross said in a statement. "I'm proud of the efforts we've taken in Camden County to combat this epidemic, and I'll continue pushing in Congress to use the measures taken by the Camden County Addiction Awareness Task Force as a model for the rest of the nation."
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