Harm reduction services are public health strategies that minimize the negative health, social, and legal consequences associated with substance use, without judgement. These initiatives save lives and focus on eradicating stigma and shame while prioritizing quality of life, community, and well-being.
These services have been proven to reduce overdose deaths and connect people who use drugs to the treatment, support, and care they need. Harm reduction programs provide sterile syringes and safer use supplies, life-saving medications like naloxone, overdose prevention counseling, and connections to community resources and treatment for substance use.
While deaths caused by an overdose remain a public health crisis throughout the country, New Jersey has been able to save lives in recent years by investing in harm reduction services. In fact, New Jersey has invested nearly $145 million from the State’s portion of the Opioid Settlement Fund to expand harm reduction services, which has resulted in growth from just seven harm reduction centers statewide, to more than 50.
Because of this increased investment in harm reduction, treatment programs, and public health initiatives, deaths related to drug use in New Jersey decreased in 2025 compared to 2024, following a similar pattern over the past few years.
But New Jersey can do more to prioritize people over punishment. The Garden State must continue to adopt harm reduction policies and initiatives that prioritize public health and save lives instead of criminalizing drugs and people who use them.
Policies that criminally target people for substance use and sale have played out the way nearly every policy in our criminal legal system has – by disproportionately harming Black and brown people. In New Jersey, Black people are 3.3 times more likely to be arrested for using and selling criminalized drugs than white people, despite white people doing both at higher rates.
History has shown us that punitive drug policies in the United States only worsen over-policing in Black and brown communities. The failed drug war has proven that our country cannot criminalize its way to better public health. As New Jersey continues to implement harm reduction programs, the effect of those programs is clear – decrease in overdose deaths, increased access to naloxone, more and better access points for much needed resources.
However, the strides made in New Jersey through legal change and increased funding are being undermined by cuts at the federal level. The Trump administration has cut millions of dollars in federal funding for overdose prevention and addiction treatment in 2025, further harming communities across the country.
Without support from the federal government, states must take charge of ending the overdose crisis. It is essential that New Jersey commits to continuing to invest in systems of care and compassion instead of more of the failed punitive policies that lead to overdose deaths and mass criminalization. While New Jersey has invested heavily in harm reduction, some cities and counties have been less evidence-based in their investments and must be held accountable.
The overdose epidemic is a public health issue that touches every New Jerseyan. We need more investment in evidence-based harm reduction services paired with an end to criminal penalties for drug use – we can’t arrest our way out of this crisis.
On Overdose Awareness Day, we honor the memories of far too many New Jerseyans who have lost their lives due to substance use. We must work together to build the public health infrastructure needed to end the overdose crisis and keep our communities healthy and safe.
