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What Is Narcan and Why Is It Used?

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file photo by Boyd Loving

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, in recent years, Narcan has become a critical tool in the fight against the opioid crisis. But what exactly is Narcan, and why is it so important?

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Johnson & Johnson to contribute up to $5 billion to the nationwide settlement of opioid-related claims

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

NEW BRUNSWICK NJ, Johnson & Johnson and its U.S.-based Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies today announced the finalization of a nationwide settlement agreement to resolve opioid-related claims and litigation by states, cities, counties, and other subdivisions in the United States. As previously announced, the Company will contribute up to $5 billion to the settlement, depending on the number of state and local governments that elect to opt into the agreement over the next several months.

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Attorney General Grewal Is Disappointed in OxyContin Maker Purdue Pharma Bankruptcy Plan

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood  NJ, Purdue Pharma, which helped revolutionize the prescription painkiller business with its drug OxyContin, is proposing a $10 billion plan to emerge from bankruptcy that calls for it to be transformed into a different kind of company funneling profits into the fight against the nation’s intractable opioid crisis.
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2017 General Election Results by District for Ridgewood

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last pic of the Titanic 1912

In the words of renown local landscape architect James Rose , “the problem is you live here “

November 8,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, 2017 General Election Results by District for Ridgewood  : https://www.ridgewoodnj.net/images/Ridgewood/Departments/Clerk/GEN2017.pdf 

While “high taxes”  and “opioid crisis” where the key issues, residents voted in overwhelming numbers for the person or persons who promised to raise taxes on everything and create a sanctuary state. From yesterday results it does appear the state has committed fiscal suicide .

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President Trump Calls Opioid Crisis a Public Health Emergency

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The best way to prevent drug addiction and overdose is to prevent people from abusing drugs in the first place.  If they don’t start, they won’t have a problem.” – President Donald J. Trump

October 28,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Washington DC, DRUG ADDICTION AND OPIOIDS ARE RAVAGING AMERICA: Hundreds of thousands of Americans have lost their lives to drug abuse, and it will only get worse unless action is taken.
• In 2016, more than two million Americans had an addiction to prescription or illicit opioids.
o Since 2000, over 300,000 Americans have died from overdoses involving opioids.
• Drug overdoses are now the leading cause of injury death in the United States, outnumbering both traffic crashes and gun-related deaths.
• In 2015, there were 52,404 drug overdose deaths — 33,091 of those deaths, almost two-thirds, involved the use of opioids.
o According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics, the national age-adjusted rate of opioid overdose deaths in 2015 was 10.4 deaths per 100,000 Americans.
• The situation has only gotten worse, with drug overdose deaths in 2016 expected to exceed 64,000.
o This represents a rate of 175 deaths a day.
o This exceeds the number of Americans killed during the Vietnam War.
o The rise in overdose deaths is largely due to the proliferation of illicitly made fentanyl, a highly potent synthetic opioid, and fentanyl analogs.
• In 2016, more than 11.5 million Americans ages 12 and older reported misuse of prescription opioids in the past year, and nearly 950,000 Americans reported heroin use in the past year.
• In 2014, the number of babies born drug-dependent had increased by 500 percent since 2000, and children being placed in foster care due in part to parental drug abuse is going up — now it is almost a third of all child removals.
A PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY: President Donald J. Trump is mobilizing his entire Administration to address drug addiction and opioid abuse by directing the declaration of a Nationwide Public Health Emergency to address the opioids crisis.
• The action allows for expanded access to telemedicine services, including services involving remote prescribing of medicine commonly used for substance abuse or mental health treatment.
• The action helps overcome bureaucratic delays and inefficiencies in the hiring process, by allowing the Department of Health and Human Services to more quickly make temporary appointments of specialists with the tools and talent needed to respond effectively to our Nation’s ongoing public health emergency.
• The actions allows the Department of Labor to issue dislocated worker grants to help workers who have been displaced from the workforce because of the opioid crisis, subject to available funding.
• The action allows for shifting of resources within HIV/AIDS programs to help people eligible for those programs receive substance abuse treatment, which is important given the connection between HIV transmission and substance abuse.
THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION IS FIGHTING BACK: The Trump White House has moved quickly to address the drug addiction and opioid crisis, with the President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis leading the way.
• In March 2017, President Trump established the President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis, with the following stated mission: “to study the scope and effectiveness of the Federal response to drug addiction and the opioid crisis and to make recommendations to the President for improving that response.”
o President Trump eagerly awaits the Commission’s final report so that he can review their findings and recommendations.
• Since President Trump took office, more than $1 billion in funding has been allocated or spent directly addressing the drug addiction and opioid crisis.
o Since April, more than $800 million has been distributed for prevention, treatment, first responders, prescription drug monitoring programs, recovery and other care in communities, inpatient settings, and correctional systems.
o Since the President took office, $254 million in funding for high-risk communities, law enforcement, and first responder coordination and work has been awarded.
• The CDC has launched the Prescription Awareness Campaign, a multimedia awareness campaign featuring the real-life stories of people who have lost loved ones to prescription opioid overdose and people in recovery.
• The Food and Drug Administration is imposing new requirements on the manufacturers of prescription opioids to help reverse the overprescribing that has fueled the crisis.
• The Department of Justice’s Opioid Fraud and Abuse Detection Unit is targeting individuals that are contributing to the prescription opioid epidemic, has netted the largest-ever health care fraud takedown, secured the first-ever indictments against Chinese fentanyl manufacturers, and seized AlphaBay, the largest criminal marketplace on the Internet and a major source of fentanyl and heroin.
• The State Department has secured a binding UN agreement making it harder for criminals to access fentanyl precursors ANPP and NPP.
• The National Institutes of Health has initiated discussions with the pharmaceutical industry to establish a partnership to investigate non-addictive pain relievers and new addiction and overdose treatments, as well as a potential vaccine for addiction.
• The Department of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs, National Institutes of Health, and Department of Health and Human Services are collaborating on a six-year, $81 million joint research partnership focusing on nondrug approaches to managing pain in order to address the needs of service members and veterans.

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Christie Administration Announces Funding to Combat Opioid Overdose Epidemic

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Wednesday, August 31, 2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Trenton, NJ – Governor Chris Christie today announced The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has awarded the New Jersey Department of Health (DOH) a $727,688 competitive grant to enhance efforts to curb the opioid crisis through a series of initiatives and the New Jersey Department of Human Services (DHS) approximately $6.9 million to target prescription and opioid misuse.

“Today is International Overdose Awareness Day, a reminder that the disease of addiction is preventable through education and intervention,” said Governor Christie.  “These funding grants are another important step in combating opioid misuse and abuse in New Jersey while strengthening our ability to positively impact the opioid crisis in our state by saving lives.”

Funding for DOH  will enable the agency to enhance its data access and analysis; improve prevention planning, including implementing a statewide strategic plan; assess the impact of state-level policies on the opioid crisis; identify and engage communities most impacted by the effects of the opioid crisis; and maximize the New Jersey Prescription Monitoring Program’s public health surveillance potential.

The CDC’s Prescription Drug Overdose Prevention grant helps states combat ongoing prescription drug overdose challenges. The purpose is to provide state health departments with resources and support needed to advance interventions for preventing prescription drug overdoses.

Through 2019, CDC plans to give selected states annual awards between $750,000 and $1 million to advance prevention in four key areas: maximizing prescription drug monitoring programs; community, insurer or health systems interventions; policy evaluations and Rapid Response projects.

Through SAMHSA, DHS  will receive a Strategic Prevention Framework for Prescription Drugs five-year grant award for approximately $1.9 million to target prescription drug misuse. The program is designed to raise awareness about the dangers of sharing medications and educate pharmaceutical and medical communities on the risks of overprescribing to young adults.

This grant also will fund prescription drug abuse prevention activities and education to schools, communities, parents, prescribers, and their patients. SAMHSA will track reductions in opioid overdoses and the incorporation of Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) data into needs assessments and strategic plans as indicators of the program’s success. The cooperative agreement between DHS and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) calls for up to 25 awards of about $371,616 annually.

The reports developed from the DHS’ Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) data analysis will be shared with other state agencies and with DMHAS’ Regional Prevention Coalitions to inform planning in local communities.

In addition, DHS is receiving $5 million to target the reduction of the number of prescription drug/opioid overdose related deaths and adverse events among 18 year olds and older.  The grant will focus on training key community sectors on the prevention of prescription drug/opioid overdose related deaths and implementing prevention strategies, including the purchase and distribution of naloxone kits. A cooperative agreement between DHS and SAMHSA calls for up to 11 awards of $1million annually.

International Overdose Awareness Day is a global event held annually on August 31 that aims to raise awareness of overdoses and reduce the stigma of drug-related deaths. It also acknowledges the grief felt by families and friends who have experienced death or permanent injury as a result of drug overdoses.