These Berkeley Area Residents Died Of Heroin, Opioid Overdoses Since 2004

The number of people who have died of heroin overdoses can now fill a mid-size city in New Jersey.

That’s the subject of an nj.com report that breaks down the heroin epidemic in New Jersey, with 5,217 reportedly dead since 2004.

For some New Jersey counties, heroin abuse was a major factor in a steep increase in drug abuse cases in recent years. In Ocean County, the number of overdoses doubled from 2012 to 2013.

Each year, Patch takes a look at how the drug has not only infested New Jersey’s urban areas, but the more unlikely places where suburban stories of abuse have developed into a sad, profound narrative: Brick, Toms River, Lacey, Lower Township, Millville, Gloucester City and Woodbridge.

>>Related: 30 N.J. Towns With The Most Heroin Abuse

Many of these communities had sharp decreases from the 2013 to 2014 (Jersey City dropped from 1,127 to 668). Other smaller communities, such as Lower Township and Millville, saw their heroin treatment cases go up, showing that the heroin scourge is not confined to the urban communities anymore.

>>Click here to see a list of tombstone icons for details of each person’s name, age, hometown and the year they died. Last names were withheld to protect each family’s privacy, according to nj.com.<<