Asbury Park Press

Despite the best efforts of individuals, government entities and a small army of non-profits, the opioid fight in New Jersey is a losing cause right now.

The numbers reported this week by the USA TODAY Network New Jersey are not just discouraging, they are depressing as can be.

Six years after the deadly opioid crisis took hold in New Jersey, and despite hundreds of millions of dollars spent to stop its spread, it has only gotten worse. An average of eight people have died each day in 2018, up from an average of three in 2012, when then-Gov. Chris Christie started ramping up his efforts to address what was becoming an alarming number of overdoses and deaths from heroin and painkillers.

Now, despite a broad effort to combat the abuse by expanding treatment, suing drug manufacturers and seeking to reduce the prescribing of painkillers and other opioids, the state is still on pace to see nearly 3,000 drug overdose deaths, the most recorded in one calendar year. And the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said New Jersey had one of the highest increases in such deaths in the country, up 21 percent between January 2017 and January 2018. Treatment for heroin now accounts for 45 percent of substance abuse admissions, the highest rate recorded in Department of Health data available back to 2006.

Though Gov. Phil Murphy and his administration have kept some of Christie’s policies and programs in place, they have also ventured into more novel approaches toward stemming the tide of addiction. One new line of attack is through what Murphy has called a “Moneyball” approach, using data and analytics to guide decision making.

One huge, underlying problem regarding the opioid scourge is more practical, and that is the seeming inability to find and allocate proper resources to provide treatment for all those who need services. While those who work daily in addiction circles have praised Murphy’s new initiatives and pledge of $100 million, more resources must be found.

Too many addicts are falling through the cracks, for one reason or another. Certainly, there have been bright spots and breakthroughs, including initiatives that seek to cut down further on initial opioid prescriptions. Still, other crises keep popping up, such as the rise in street use of the synthetic opioid fentanyl.

The bottom line here is that the opioid abuse and addiction cycle in New Jersey is more like a hydra than a water snake. It is a many-headed monster, which means it requires many different approaches along many different fronts.

More funding is not the total answer, but it is a big part of it. Public officials at the local, county and state levels need to figure out how to more creatively mobilize available resources, in whatever form they may take. The stakes are too high to wait; bold action is required to stop this menace from spreading further and doing more damage in our state.