Substance Use
Why It's Important
Many leading causes of death may be at least partially caused by the abuse of drugs. Unintentional injuries, including overdose, and suicide are associated with the use of drugs.What's Known
The drug overdose epidemic continues to worsen in the U.S. There were more than 100,000 drug overdose deaths in the U.S. in 2022, 75% of which involved an opioid.2How It's Tracked
New Jersey's Division of Addiction Services is housed in the Department of Human Services.Substance use is primarily tracked nationally through:
- The Drug Overdose Surveillance and Epidemiology (DOSE) system analyzes data from syndromic surveillance systems to rapidly identify outbreaks and provide situational awareness of changes in drug overdose-related emergency department visits at the local, state, and regional level.
- State Unintentional Drug Overdose Reporting System (SUDORS) provides comprehensive data on unintentional and undetermined intent drug overdose deaths collected from death certificates and medical examiner/coroner reports.
- The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has multiple data collection system.
Publications
Other Data and Information Resources
New Jersey
- Department of Health, Opioid Data Dashboard
- Department of Health, Naloxone (Narcan®) Program
- Department of Health, Unintentional Overdose Mortality Dashboard
- Department of Human Services, Mental Health and Addiction Services
- Department of Education, Student Health Survey
- Alcohol Use
- Tobacco Use