Ahead of International Overdose Awareness Day, the Murphy Administration Remains Committed to Expanding Access To Effective Treatment and Proven Harm Reduction Strategies

TRENTON, NJ –  As New Jersey prepares to observe International Overdose Awareness Day, the New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH) honors the memory of thousands of New Jerseyans lost to overdose while recognizing encouraging progress and the urgent need for continued work to expand access to integrated, evidence-based harm reduction services and care for addiction.

Governor Murphy issued a proclamation designating August 31, 2025, as Overdose Awareness Day, noting that it is a day to remember the lives ended by drug overdose while working to support their loved ones and take action to end preventable overdoses.

Recent data shows the scale of the challenge but also offers reason for measured optimism. In New Jersey, more than 2,800 people lost their lives to overdose in 2023, an 11% decline from the year prior. Preliminary data for 2024 shows a further decrease.

Nationally, about 75,000 people died due to drug overdose from late 2023 to late 2024, according to provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics; this data suggests a 25% decrease in overdose mortality from March 2024 to March 2025.

Though signaling progress, these statistics expose the human toll of an ongoing overdose crisis that claimed the lives of more than seven New Jerseyans every day in 2023. The majority of these involve fentanyl – a synthetic opioid more than 50 times as potent as heroin – or one of its analogs, and are increasingly complicated by the presence of xylazine, medetomidine, and other adulterants.

“Every preventable death is a tragedy, and overdoses have cut short the lives of far too many of our neighbors,” said Acting Health Commissioner Jeff Brown. “Yet in the face of this crisis, I remain determined and hopeful because we have proven harm reduction strategies and remarkably effective substance use disorder treatments at our disposal. Our unwavering focus as a department is to ensure all New Jerseyans can benefit from them.”

NJDOH’s Overdose Mortality Data Explorer, launched in 2023, continues to illuminate demographic and geographic disparities in fatal overdoses. To prevent and respond to overdose, New Jersey continues to deploy and expand multiple evidence-based interventions, investing in critical services to meet people where they are with the help they need and want.

Harm Reduction: As of July 31, 2025, NJDOH has authorized 54 harm reduction centers (HRCs), with at least one authorized site in each of New Jersey’s 21 counties. The HRCs include a mix of fixed, mobile, and mail-based services. These community-based programs offer safe, non-stigmatizing spaces for people who use drugs to access naloxone, sterile syringes, and other safer use supplies, as well as wraparound services like substance use disorder (SUD) treatment, health care, and services that address basic needs. 

Today, the Department is issuing the New Jersey Harm Reduction Centers Biennial Report 2022-2024, which reflects the historic growth in harm reduction infrastructure between 2022 and 2024. Key findings include:

• The increase in authorized Harm Reduction Centers from seven in 2022 to 52 by the end of 2024.
• Harm Reduction Centers served over 5,800 people in 2024 – a 122% increase from two years prior – and nearly 80% of whom were new clients.
• The successful linkage to medical and social referral services has steadily increased from 64% in 2022 to 70% in 2023 to 78% in 2024.
• By integrating health care services—including HIV, sexual transmitted infections (STI) and hepatitis testing; wound care; and low-threshold buprenorphine programs—HRCs continue to address the broader health needs of their communities.

New Jersey’s four public psychiatric hospitals run by NJDOH are also embracing harm reduction, including distributing naloxone upon discharge from the hospital and increasing opportunities for staff training on naloxone administration.

First Responders: When people struggling with addiction are ready to seek treatment, it is crucial to act fast. NJ is working with paramedics to provide buprenorphine – a medication that stems cravings and leads to better recovery outcomes – immediately to patients who need it. This year, then-Commissioner Kaitlan Baston signed an Executive Directive to further remove administrative barriers to this care. For the many patients who refuse transport to the hospital, these first responders may be the only health care provider they see that day; first responders present a critical opportunity to link clients to appointments for follow up care.

NJDOH provides EMS first responders with a custom Five Minutes to Help anti-stigma training that equips them with the knowledge and resources to best respond to overdose in their own communities and connect patients with resources for ongoing care. 

Integrating Care: New Jersey is also breaking down barriers that have fragmented addiction care. Earlier this year, NJDOH proposed integrated license rules that will allow health care facilities to combine primary care, mental health, and addiction treatment under a single license, eliminating requirements for separate entrances, records, and spaces that often deterred people from seeking help. This whole-person approach enables providers to offer medications for opioid use disorder alongside other health services in one location, treating addiction as the health condition it is rather than something separate and stigmatized.

Timely Treatment: New Jersey is investing $19.5 million in opioid settlement funds spread over three years to stand up a comprehensive, statewide rapid referral platform to link those seeking effective medication for addiction treatment to health care providers that can prescribe it, as well as other treatment supports like transportation. The investment includes statewide telehealth to support real-time screening and access to bridge prescriptions for Medications for Opioid Use Disorder – a critical intervention to ensure people can get treatment as soon as they are ready and eliminating the vulnerable period between someone deciding to seek help and actually receiving it.

Through the Department of Human Services, opioid settlement funds are also expanding Community Peer Recovery Centers that offer treatment resources in supportive environments, adding mobile units that bring medication treatment directly to communities, and strengthening housing support—from emergency shelter beds to permanent housing assistance. The funds also support the New Jersey Keeping Families Together program under the Department of Children and Families, which helps parents in recovery stay with their children through housing vouchers, case management, and therapeutic support.

Reducing Barriers: In 2023, Governor Murphy signed legislation exempting State-authorized harm reduction centers from criminal penalties for distributing life-saving materials or equipment used to prevent death and physical harm, reduce the spread of disease, or mitigate the adverse effects associated with the personal use of controlled dangerous substances, such as test strips for xylazine.

The Administration also launched the nation-leading Naloxone365 initiative, administered by the Department of Human Services, which allows anyone 14 years or older to acquire naloxone anonymously and at no cost at over 650 participating pharmacies across New Jersey.

A Path Forward

While progress is evident, New Jersey recognizes that behind every prevented overdose is a person with inherent worth and potential. The state remains committed to treating addiction as the complex health condition it is – one that requires comprehensive, compassionate care rather than criminalization.

On this International Overdose Awareness Day, New Jersey stands with families who have lost loved ones, individuals in recovery, and those still struggling. Together, we work toward a future where overdose deaths become truly preventable tragedies of the past.