Earlier today (on Thursday) New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy unveiled what he describes as an historic effort to combat the opioid crisis in the Garden State. WBGO’s David Matthau reports...
The Governor says over the next 3 years more than 95 million dollars will be invested to expand harm reduction and community peer recovery centers, increase funding for medication assisted treatment programs, expand the Keeping Families Together program and allocate more money for housing assistance for those in recovery.
“The funding is not coming from the pockets of New Jersey’s taxpayers, instead this funding is actually coming from settlement payments we are receiving from the opioid industry itself.”
Jersey Department of Human Services Commissioner Sarah Adelman says the fight against the opioid epidemic touches her personally.
"I have lived every day of my life impacted by addiction, as the daughter of someone who struggled with substance use and for years with opioid use disorder, until I lost them from complications from addiction.”
The state will receive more than 1 billion dollars in settlement funds over the next 14 years.
From the New Jersey Desk David Matthau WBGO News
