Crime & Safety

7 New Jersey Counties With Highest Drug Abuse Rate

We added a new list, based on statistics provided by the Division of Addiction Services in the New Jersey Department of Human Services., that show how insidious this disease of drug abuse is

Last month, Patch exposed the 45 communities in New Jersey with the largest number of reported heroin and opiate abuse cases in 2012, the most recent year available. 

As that list and this compilation show, drug abuse is no longer a scourge that's confined to the nation's crime-ridden areas. In some New Jersey counties, heroin abuse was a major factor in a steep increase in drug abuse cases over the past year. In Ocean County, the number of overdoses doubled from 2012 to 2013.

We added a new list, based on statistics provided by the Division of Addiction Services in the New Jersey Department of Human Services., that show how insidious this disease of drug abuse is, and how the problem can impact an area that's unlikely suspect. Cape May County is known for little more than its rural nature, as well as the mostly quiet beauty of its beaches. This list shows how the county tops the number of drug treatment cases reported in 2012, per capita.

There are 21 towns in New Jersey. These counties make up the top 33 percent. The counties some might expected to see here - Essex and Passaic among them - didn't come close to making the cut.


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