Heroin Overdose Vigil at Timber Creek Park in Gloucester Township Saturday Night

The Camden County Freeholder Board and the newly-created Addiction Awareness Task Force host an Overdose Remembrance Candlelight Vigil Saturday night, 6 p.m. at Timber Creek Park in Gloucester Township.

The vigil will be held to remember those who fell victim to drug overdoses in Camden County and throughout southern New Jersey.

“Far too many families in Camden County have lost loved ones to heroin and other drugs that are fueling our region’s current addiction crisis,” Freeholder Director Louis Cappelli, Jr. said. “We must all address the rising use of heroin and other drugs that are ripping apart our families and killing our residents.”

Timber Creek Park is part of the Camden County Park System.

“As a county we know that no one is immune to the addiction of opiates and the Freeholder Board is focused on increasing awareness of prevention and treatment options,” Cappelli said. “Furthermore, the Philadelphia region has been identified by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration as a main hub for heroin distribution in the Mid-Atlantic States.”

The Addiction Awareness Task Force is a group of 14 people appointed by the Camden County Freeholder Board to help promote awareness education and resources in Camden County.

“The Addiction Awareness Task Force is made up of students, parents, teachers, civic organizations, medical professionals, public health providers, law enforcement and religious leaders – just to name a few” Cappelli said. “We did not limit who comprises the task force since this is an issue that touches every area of our community.”

Heroin and opiates have become a growing public safety and health crisis creating devastating effects on the region, the state and the nation in the last five years.

These narcotics are ubiquitous in every community in Camden County and usage is on the rise. In a two-hour period in March this year the county saw 15 heroin overdoses.

There were 8,300 admissions to state-certified substance-abuse treatment programs due to prescription drug abuse in 2012, a 200 percent increase over the previous five years, according to the task force report.

“The task force members serve as liaisons to state and local community awareness groups as well as non-profit groups and drug addiction service providers,” Cappelli said. “As an elected official opiate addiction is one of my biggest concerns.”