The Boys & Girls Clubs of Cumberland County recently held a Virtual Town Hall focusing on the opioid crisis and recovery resources. The third in a series of four held at Boys & Girls Clubs in Southern New Jersey and supported by the Horizon Foundation of NJ, the town halls are geared toward opioid awareness, especially as it pertains to teens.

In a recent report, New Jersey’s Department of Human Services released its annual list of heroin abuse cases reported by each community in the state. These reported numbers indicate that the opioid and heroin crisis continues to rage on and the COVID-19 pandemic is exacerbating the problem. As the list makes apparent, the opioid epidemic is impacting urban, suburban and rural communities throughout New Jersey. In fact, over 3,000 suspected opioid-related deaths occurred in New Jersey in 2020.