After using a drug to reverse opiate overdoses hundreds of times, police in New Jersey have discovered another problem: The people they save often cannot get into treatment programs right away and some go right back to their life-threatening habits.
On Tuesday, Gov. Chris Christie marked the one-year anniversary of the creation of the Facing Drug Addiction Task Force. He also said the state will expand re-entry programs for drug offenders coming back into society.
The heroin epidemic that has been taking the lives of teenagers for years is creeping into even younger age groups and putting pressure on the nation's schools to keep a fast-acting overdose antidote within reach of every nurse and teacher.
As New Jersey continues to see a high rate of heroin-related deaths among young people, many parents seem to be ignorant of the epidemic, or perhaps in complete denial about their own child's drug use.
Two Jersey Shore prosecutors hope a partnership they have formed with hospitals in their area will help stem the tide of drug overdoses in their counties.