Millburn, NJ, Jan. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey (PDFNJ), the Office of the New Jersey Coordinator for Addiction Responses and Enforcement Strategies (NJ CARES) and the Opioid Education Foundation of America (OEFA) have renewed their partnership in 2024 and will once again host the Knock Out Opioid Abuse Day Learning Series. PDFNJ has also partnered with the American Academy of CME, Inc. to accredit the webinars as free continuing medical education credits for health care professionals and with the New Jersey Department of Health to accredit the webinars for free continuing education units for emergency medical services.
Over the course of 11 webinars from January to December 2024, the series will offer the public more insight and information into the multi-faceted components of the opioid epidemic in New Jersey and around the nation. The first webinar, “The Opioid Crisis: An Overview,” will be held at 11 a.m. on Thursday, January 25, and will feature presentations by Dr. Lewis Nelson, Chair of Emergency Medicine at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School; and Captain Jason Piotrowski, Executive Officer of the New Jersey State Police’s Forensic and Technical Services Section. The webinar will be moderated by WRNJ’s broadcasting and media host, Bert Baron, an inductee in the New Jersey Broadcasters Association Radio Hall of Fame, who has volunteered countless hours to support numerous New Jersey non-profits and charitable organizations.
“We are excited to continue to work with NJ CARES, the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General and OEFA to once again host these informative webinars for New Jersey residents,” PDFNJ Executive Director Angelo Valente said. “Since 2020, the Learning Series has educated tens of thousands of New Jersey health care professionals, law enforcement personnel, public health advocates, community leaders and many within the prevention, treatment and recovery fields. The webinars have been a starting point for conversations and an inspiration for action to address the opioid epidemic in many New Jersey communities.”
The first webinar of 2024 will examine the current state of the opioid epidemic, including emerging trends and the most recent data available on overdose deaths, naloxone administrations and other key metrics. PDFNJ hosts the series in collaboration with OEFA and NJ CARES, which is responsible for overseeing addiction-fighting efforts across the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General and has focused on educating the community on various topics related to prevention, treatment and recovery.
The Learning Series has grown in each year since it was created in 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, with attendance reaching nearly 10,000 total attendees in 2023. Participants have learned from experts from a wide range of backgrounds and expertise, including representatives of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the New Jersey Department of Health, and the Drug Enforcement Administration, as well as many universities and state and local organizations involved in the fight against the opioid epidemic. Speakers have included New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin, former New Jersey Governor James E. McGreevey, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Regional Director Dr. Dara Kass and award-winning author Sam Quinones.
The series is a branch of PDFNJ’s Knock Out Opioid Abuse Day statewide initiative, which has been held annually on October 6 since 2016 to educate residents and prescribers on the risks of prescription opioids and to raise awareness of the opioid crisis throughout the state.
NJ CARES data shows that nearly 2,400 people in New Jersey died from suspected drug-related overdoses during the first 11 months of 2023. A vast majority of these overdose deaths involved some form of opioid including prescription painkillers, heroin and synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl.
To learn more about Knock Out Opioid Abuse Day and for a schedule of webinars, please visit knockoutday.drugfreenj.org.
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Best known for its statewide anti-drug advertising campaign, the Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey is a private not-for-profit coalition of professionals from the communications, corporate and government communities whose collective mission is to reduce demand for illicit drugs in New Jersey through media communication. To date, more than $200 million in broadcast time and print space has been donated to the Partnership’s New Jersey campaign, making it the largest public service advertising campaign in New Jersey’s history. Since its inception the Partnership has garnered 226 advertising and public relations awards from national, regional and statewide media organizations.
