Opioid Epidemic Forum At Middletown HS South Tuesday

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — This coming Tuesday night, May 23, everyone is invited to attend a special public forum at Middletown High School South on the opiate epidemic. The forum is hosted by the Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey as part of its "Knock Out Opioid Abuse Town Hall" series.

The forum at Middletown South is sponsored by Middletown public schools, Prevention First, the Tigger House Foundation and the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office. The town hall series focuses on the issues of prescription drug dependency and heroin abuse. In 2015, more than 33,000 Americans died from an opioid overdose, an average of about 91 deaths per day, according to the CDC. In Monmouth County, there were 107 opioid overdose deaths in 2015 and 148 such deaths in 2016, according to the latest data from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office.

“There must be a collective sense of urgency as we battle the opioid epidemic ripping through our communities,” said Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni. “The epidemic is touching each and every one of us directly or indirectly, and there is no mistaking this affects us all.”

WHO: Speakers include:
- Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon, 13th Legislative District
- Victor Almeida, DO, FACEP Chairman, Emergency Medicine Monmouth Medical Center
- Mary Pat Angelini, CEO, Preferred Behavioral Health Group
- Christopher J. Gramiccioni, Monmouth County Prosecutor
- Ninette Tuerk MSW, LCSW, LCADC, CCS, Clinical Department Manager for Outpatient Addictions at Hackensack Meridian Health

WHEN: 7-9 p.m. Tuesday, May 23 (Doors open at 6:30 p.m.)

WHERE: Middletown High School South, 900 Nut Swamp Road, Middletown, NJ 07748

Check out knockoutopioidabuse.drugfreenj.org, which provides a full schedule of countywide town hall meetings and registration information.