It’s Time To Decriminalize All Drugs In New Jersey, Advocates Plead

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Ahern – who is now a community coordinator for the National Center for Advocacy and Recovery – recently joined several other Garden State advocates to share their stories and thoughts with the ACLU of New Jersey (ACLU-NJ).

In short? It’s time to decriminalize all drugs in New Jersey, they say.

The state continues to spend “exorbitant” amounts on drug law enforcement at the expense of proven community-based responses, the group recently pointed out. Between 2010 and 2019, New Jersey spent over $1.2 billion annually on policing, prosecution, and incarceration stemming from drug criminalization, while nearly 20,000 New Jerseyans died of a drug overdose.

It’s an approach that clearly isn’t working and needs to be abandoned, they say.

Research shows that harm reduction strategies – like syringe access programs, “safer supply” and access to naloxone – are much better ways to prevent overdoses, the ACLU-NJ said.

“Punitive drug policies do not deter drug use or prevent overdose deaths – they only serve to further marginalize vulnerable groups and actively discourage people from seeking out community resources and treatment,” the Essex County-based advocacy group wrote.

Ayesha Rogers, an outreach worker for the Newark Community Street Team, said that everyone deserves a second chance.

“We all fall short, we all make bad decisions, who are we to judge?” Rogers questioned. “Not all people who use drugs come from bad homes, life just happens and we all deserve to be met right where we are, not turned away because of our choices.”

“We should love those that are in need to be loved and help those that want to be helped,” she urged.

Other advocates that the ACLU-NJ spoke with included Caitlin O’Neill of the New Jersey Harm Reduction Coalition, who describes herself as a “white person who uses drugs” – and has used that fact to get out of trouble before.

O’Neill recalled “being pulled over after purchasing drugs but being told to ‘head on back home’ to the mainly white suburban town listed on my driver’s license, or “How did a nice girl like you wind up a junkie [expletive]?”

“I can say though that the criminalization of drugs and drug use absolutely kept me from seeking help, many times, for many years,” she said. “Not just help for treatment or substance use disorder (SUD) recovery, but I’m talking about things like not reporting rape and other assaults, knowing that my drug use and or sex work would be brought into any legal proceedings, or lead to people not believing me.”

“That stigma kept me from trauma support, even made me believe that I deserved to be treated in those harmful ways as a result of my decisions that had led me to being physically dependent on drugs,” O’Neill said.

“All of that stems from its criminalized status: implying that because drugs are illegal that means using them is immoral, which is not the case in reality,” she added.

According to O’Neill, many people in New Jersey continue to fight for a future where the humanity and dignity of people who use drugs is prioritized over punishment.

She wrote:

“That future includes things like mental health care, medical care and SUD treatment available on demand the moment it is requested. It requires more realistic and modern SUD treatment models like harm reduction counseling and options outside of mandated abstinence. It requires housing-first initiatives, overdose prevention centers where people who are already using drugs can use them, if they choose to, in a safer and non-coercive care setting to prevent overdose deaths and connect to a broader continuum of support options. It requires doctors, nurses, and all healthcare workers to stop shaming us for our choices and treating us like we did something wrong when we land in their care or seek medical attention. It requires 24-hour drop-in shelter options, non-congregate shelter settings like repurposed motels or office buildings turned into transitional housing, options for couples and partners to shelter together, options for pets or remote pet care. And overall, it would require people to begin to be treated just as competent, thoughtful, capable, insightful, and important as they see themselves. But there are some long standing institutions, like law enforcement and the SUD treatment industrial complex, in New Jersey that would need major restructuring and improved education to achieve that.”

In the meanwhile, people like Ahern’s son, Rory, will continue to struggle with unfair punishments and the stigma of being a drug user, advocates say.

“Rory often talked about the dehumanization,” Ahern told the ACLU-NJ. “I believe that if he had been treated differently and had not been labeled a felon as a result of his personal use, his life would have looked much different.”

“Instead, his life was filled with pain and grief for all the things he never got to experience,” she said.

‘COMPASSION IS CRUCIAL’

Another Essex County-based organization, Integrity House, recently made a plea to remember the humanity of people who are struggling with drug and alcohol abuse.

According to Integrity House – one of the largest nonprofit providers of substance use disorder treatment and mental health services in the state – addiction should be treated as a disease, not a “choice.”

Last week, the nonprofit hosted walks on its Newark and Secaucus campuses to raise awareness in commemoration of International Overdose Awareness Day.

“Let this day serve as a reminder that every life is precious and that through compassion, education, and support, we can prevent future tragedies and offer hope to those still struggling,” said the nonprofit’s director of outpatient services, Dana Ziccarello, who organized the events.

More than 300 people die from drug overdoses and nearly 500 from alcohol every day, the group noted. But instead of rushing to judge them for their mistakes, people need to empathize with the humanity of everyone impacted by their deaths.

According to the nonprofit, “compassion is crucial” when it comes to combating addiction and preventing overdoses. And so is education, they add:

“Comprehensive education about the danger of illicit substances and the overconsumption of alcohol is essential. The dangers of illicit substances like fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine cannot be understated. But legal substances like prescription opioids and alcohol are dangerous as well. Everyone, from people with substance use disorders to educators to family members, must be informed about their impact, as well as fentanyl’s pervasive presence in the illicit drug supply, how to respond to overdoses and how to use opioid-overdose-reversing naloxone.”

It’s also important to remember that many people struggling with addiction are also coping with other problems, Integrity House says:

“Societal stigma is a major detriment preventing people from seeking addiction treatment, making it essential to assure those struggling with addiction that they deserve help and recovery. But Integrity House knows that there are other barriers people struggling with addiction face that prevent them from getting treatment, such as a co-occurring disorder, a lack of finances or an inability to get to a treatment facility.”

The nonprofit has been reaching out to this latter group – especially people who are experiencing homelessness – with their Mobile Community Care program, which goes out into the community to provide FDA-approved medications and other necessary services.

“Demonizing those suffering from addiction strengthens and enforces the stigma surrounding it and prevents people from seeking the help they need,” Integrity House’s CEO Robert Budsock said.

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“We have to be supportive and receptive to those seeking help, and shaming those who are suffering will only discourage them from seeking treatment and ultimately lead to more and more deaths which could be prevented,” Budsock said.

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