Mobile treatment centers for drug users living on the streets. Transportation to services, recovery housing and peer coaches to help people navigate life after addiction. Drug-sniffing dogs, police training, youth leadership programs and safe-disposal sites for unused prescription drugs.
These are just some of the ways local governments plan to respond to drug addiction in the years to come, according to a state report released in late September. That report is the first expansive public look at how state and local officials decided to allocate their first piece of the $1 billion pie New Jersey will receive through the national opioid settlement over the next two decades. The money is divided between state government and qualifying local governments, which include the 21 counties and 241 municipalities that participated in the suit and have at least 10,000 residents. To read the full story.