Lacey Treatment Services in Lanoka Harbor offers programs for adults battling heroin and opioid addiction.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration award will aid the implementation of the Medication-Assisted Treatment – Prescription Drug and Opioid Addiction Program, in addition to helping establish "bridge clinics" at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center in Newark and Clara Maass Medical Center in Belleville.

Gov. Phil Murphy made the announcement on Overdose Awareness Day. Agreements from 2021 add up to approximately $641 million to be disbursed over the next two decades. The agreements call for funds to go toward initiatives such as addressing the needs of criminal justice-involved individuals, offering harm reduction services, supporting relevant research and training, and more.

“Sports injuries happen in high school sports so make sure to ask the questions about what you are being prescribed for pain and if there are alternatives,” Ray Lucas, who also played quarterback as Rutgers Scarlet Knight, told Harrison High School student-athletes during an event that addressed the risks of these prescriptions.

The agreement with Endo International and its lenders would resolve allegations that the drug maker boosted sales using deceptive marketing that downplayed the risk of addiction and overstated the benefits.

The multiyear effort will work to spread awareness about non-opioid options to manage acute and chronic pain, including by educating retired players, NFLA chapter presidents and staff, and youth sports organizations.

According to court documents the company, "knowingly filled prescriptions for controlled substances ... for patients exhibiting suspicious and drug-seeking behavior, including patients that repeatedly requested early refills, paid thousands of dollars in cash for their prescriptions, or requested that prescriptions be sent to suspicious or inappropriate locations, including hotels, casinos and elementary schools.”

The panel will discuss how – and why – the crisis is affecting certain populations. It is presented by the Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey and the Office of the New Jersey Coordinator of Addiction Responses and Enforcement Strategies.

The city enlisted software provider Quickbase for a dispatch system that, in short, gets a life-saving prescription to those who need it, and quickly.

The grant is part of the latest round of funding from the Foundation for Opioid Response Efforts, which announced a total of $10.9 million over three years to support prevention programs across nine organizations nationwide.

The funds will go toward state and local programs focused on treatment, prevention and other strategies to combat the epidemic.

The organization was awarded a one-year $525,000 New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development grant to launch the initiative for adults impacted by the opioid epidemic in northern New Jersey.