Heroin battle: making progress, far from over

Efforts have been made locally and statewide to combat the issue of heroin and opiate abuse in New Jersey, but the fight is far from over.

Too many people fall victim to the promise of a high, according to Steven Liga with the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence's Middlesex County chapter. While the severity of the issue may be leveling off, the abuse of heroin and other opiates is still a significant problem for the Garden State.

It still ranks as the number one reason people seek treatment in New Jersey, but Liga said the number of admissions for treatment has finally begun to stabilize.

"For years, we've been seeing the number of heroin admissions going up, and in this past year we've seen them level off," Liga said.

The availability and administering of the heroin antidote known as Narcan has put a slight dent in the problem, meanwhile. Approximately 100 lives have been saved through the use of Narcan. Laws have made it legal for the public, cops and other officials to administer the drug with proper training.

Another measure, signed in 2013, protects people from criminal prosecution if they call emergency personnel in order to prevent an overdose.

Liga said these are all solid steps, but prevention is key in this fight.

"By the time somebody needs Narcan, they're way down the road, and we really need to do a better job of keeping people from getting to that point," he said.

A package of bills unveiled Wednesday in the New Jersey Senate focuses on treatment, prevention and education surrounding heroin and opiate addiction.