The Camden County Freeholder Board appointed members to its recently established Addiction Awareness Task Force to assist them in promoting awareness, education and resources.
“The task force is made up of students, parents, teachers, civic organizations, medical professionals, public health providers, law enforcement and religious leaders — just to name a few” said Freeholder Director Louis Cappelli, Jr. “We did not limit who comprises the task force since this is an issue that touches every area of our community.”
The freeholder board appointed 14 individuals to the task force by resolution at their meeting on Aug. 20 in Winslow Township.
“Earlier this year, we held a summit to address the scourge of heroin and other drugs that are ripping apart our families and killing our residents,” Cappelli said. “As a result of that community gathering, we received more than a dozen resumes from individuals interested in becoming members of the task force and taking on this epidemic.”
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 assist in the creation of programs to help educate residents of the resources available to prevent and treat addiction, and support the development of additional resources to end the abuse of 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,” Cappelli said. “As an elected official opiate addiction is one of my biggest concerns.”
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 Camden County and usage is on the rise. In a two-hour period in March this year the county saw 15 heroin overdoses.
“As a county we know that no one is immune to the addiction of opiates and the task force will focus on prevention and treatment as two main themes,” Cappelli said. “Furthermore, the Philadelphia region has been identified by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration as a main hub for heroin distribution in the Mid-Atlantic states.”
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 2012, a 200 percent increase over the previous five years, according to the task force report.
The Camden County Board of Freeholders Addition Awareness Task Force members are:
- Michelle Azam of Haddonfield, healthcare representative
- Mary Boyle of Springfield PA, religious organization representative
- Patti DiRenzo of Gloucester Township, parent representative
- Jen DiStefano of Williamstown, public schools representative
- Linda Dombrowski of Cherry Hill, youth organization representative
- Chief Harry Earle of Gloucester Township, law enforcement representative
- Anthony Leone of Maple Shade, private school representative
- William Lynch of Cherry Hill, healthcare representative
- Father John Stabeno of Winslow Township, religious representative
- Rabbi Lawrence Sernovitz of Cherry Hill, religious representative
- Bob Wahlquist of Mt. Laurel, business representative
- Chief Christopher Winters, Pine Hill, law enforcement representative
- John Pellicane of Pennsauken, county addiction representative
- Dr. Maureen Reusche of Cherry Hill, public schools representative
