Advocates also say harm reduction efforts are proving to be successful here just this week State officials announced more than a 100,000 free doses of the opioid overdose antidote naloxone were distributed in the first year of a new program the goal is to reduce fatal overdoses by making the life-saving medication more widely available without a prescription a senior correspondent Joanna Gagis reports the program is giving many residents a second chance since we launched this program in January of last year we have issued more than 132,000 doses of nxone it's an encouraging number for State leaders at the one-ear mark of the nxone 365 giveaway program that offers the opioid overdose reversal drug to anyone 14 or older who wants it this gives individuals a second chance that when they experience an overdose they have a friend or loved one um who is nearby who could Adit Mr Den oone it's it literally saves lives anyone can access the drug from a participating Pharmacy the numbers grown from only a couple hundred pharmacies opting in to now at least 660 pharmacies participating John power owns po Pharmacy in pton and is one of them seven years ago I lost my son uh Christopher and I've chosen to uh get involved with this and try to help people and and really in his memory because on Christopher is no different than many of the other people who are being lost and we're losing really our best and our brightest because I still think stigma plays a large role in U opioid use disorder power tries to break down that stigma by talking to his customers about the need to carry n lock Zone even if you think you'll never use it anybody a woman can carry it in her pocketbook you can keep it in your glove box just don't leave it in temperatures of heat because none of us ever know even when we'll run into a stranger who you might have the ability to save their life the New Jersey harm reduction Coalition has also worked to educate the public over the last year bringing nxone into the places where those most vulnerable of Overdose are likely to be we see people from all walks of life accessing this I think the biggest piece was that the education piece wasn't there and individuals didn't know that they can access this program and finally after $6 million has been invested by the state into their program there's some good news in the fight against opioid overdose deaths we have seen a trend in New Jersey of indiv uals who are dying by overdose um decreasing over the last couple of years there were close to 2400 suspected overdose deaths in 2023 but it's down by about 400 from the year prior and while it's good news overall there are disparities in that success because the number of Overdose deaths in black and brown communities are not decreasing we've been um instituting efforts to reach into those communities to um uh to make them aware of treatment that's available um you know without out of pocket expenses if individuals don't have insurance and don't have income and Eddie Frierson says they're focused on harm reduction efforts to keep people alive in those communities long enough to at least reach treatment we know that um every time we test drugs fentanyl or xine is in the supply we know it's there our participants know it's there too but if they know it's there and it could be harmful to them we talk about overdosing we have to give tips on how you can use safely so that doesn't happen if you do overdose um you'll have a lock Zone available at all times where would you like the state to invest its resources in the coming year education is key it's number one we have to go into the communities when people don't know about the lockone when people don't know about harm reduction the educational part to the younger people make them aware now before they even get into it because once they get into it before they know it they'll say well it's time for me to stop and all of a sudden they realize they can't because that physiological change has occurred in the brand so education is the key along with the continued provision of the the you too can help decrease the overdose numbers just look for a alone provider near you at stop overdoses nj.gov I'm Joanna Gagis NJ Spotlight News [Music] news