Burlington County Expanding Addiction Treatment Program

Burlington County is expanding a program that allows drug users to get connected to a program to assist them in overcoming their addiction through the local police department. The “Straight ... to Treatment” program, launched in Evesham Township earlier this year, is expanding to Pemberton Township, the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office announced this week.

As part of the program, participants can also safely turn in any drugs or drug paraphernalia in their possession and not be charged with a drug possession offense.

When participants in Evesham Township join the program, they are paired with representatives from Oaks Integrated Care of Mount Holly. The group, which offers treatment for substance abuse as well as other health and social service programs statewide, uses its network in an effort to find help for all who come forward, including those without the resources to seek it on their own.

The program launched in March, and 43 people have been referred for treatment, according to the Burlington County Times. One-third of those people came from Pemberton, leading to the program’s expansion. In Pemberton, the program will partner with Solstice Counseling.

It is similar to Ocean County's Blue HART (Heroin Addiction Recovery Treatment) program, which has been successful at connecting addicts with treatment.

In Evesham, the program runs on Mondays from noon to 7 p.m. at the Evesham Township Police Station, which is located at 984 Tuckerton Road in Marlton. Details on the Pemberton program were to be released in the near future.

In 2017, Burlington County experienced 141 overdose deaths, a 70 percent increase over the 83 in 2016, and an 88 percent increase over 2015 according to the prosecutor's office. Burlington County law enforcement and emergency responders deployed Narcan over 900 times in 2017 (a 40 percent increase over 2016), saving nearly that many people in the process. Without these lifesaving naloxone deployments, Burlington County could have approached 1,000 overdose deaths last year.

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