Ocean County Has the Most Towns in the top 20 for Heroin Cases

The New Jersey Department of Human Services recently published a report on the top 20 municipalities in the state for heroin and opiate abuse. You might have been shocked that it wasn’t Essex County, Hudson County or even Camden County that had the most towns on the list — it was Ocean County. While I fully realized that there was a lot of heroin and prescription drug cases at the Superior Court in Toms River, it frankly came as a surprise that so many towns in the area were ranked in the top 20. The following is a list of the Ocean County towns, their rank and number of heroin cases.

• Brick Town (6th) with 550 cases
• Toms River (8th) with 512 cases
• Lacey (11th) with 280 cases
• Jackson (12th) with 277 cases
• South Toms River (17th) with 202 cases

When you consider that Brick was once ranked among the nations safest towns, it is even that more surprising that it now ranks sixth in terms of heroin and opiates abuse. Toms River, which enjoyed the accolade of being one of the best places to retire in the nation, now bears the distinction as the eighth worst in terms of heroin. And how about Pinelands community of Lacey Township ranking eleventh!

In my view, the real message from the statistics is that the heroin epidemics draws no distinctions. It effects the big cities no more, no less, than rural communities. And it has set its roots in kids and adults alike everywhere from Newark to Jackson NJ. Thousands have died and it seems that every day more are overdosing on heroin and opiate pain medication. Things are so bad that Governor Christie has empaneled a task force to address the issue and propose a wide array of reforms to combat the addiction epidemic.

The attorneys at our firm, the Law Offices of Jonathan F. Marshall, witness the aftermath of heroin and other opiate addiction every day. Whether its a pharmacist or a high school student, the powerful nature of these drugs and the criminal conduct that they can trigger are fully evident. Thankfully, our extensive experience has allowed us to not only achieve favorable outcomes in the heroin possession and heroin distribution cases we have handled, but also with the knowledge necessary to give our clients the best chance of successfully fighting addiction. If you or a loved one needs our help, give our firm, including Nick Moschella, a call. Mr. Moschella is a former county prosecutor and has also served as municipal prosecutor in towns like Brick, Point Pleasant, Toms River, and Lacey. He or another member of our firm would be happy to assist you.

Related Terms:

Brick NJ Heroin Possession Defense Lawyers

Toms River NJ Heroin Distribution Attorneys