New Program to Offer Treatment for Lower Level Drug Offenders in Gloucester Township

Advocates from Genesis Counseling Services in Collingswood will soon offer information and treatment to lower-level drug offenders at the municipal level under a new program initiated by the Gloucester Township Police Department.

Project SAVE (Substance Abuse Victimization Effort) fills the current void in which lower level offenders are not currently offered entry into a treatment program.

Genesis Counseling is a nonprofit organization that offers therapeutic support, care and education to aid people battling mental illness or attempting to overcome drug addiction.

The announcement comes as the county battles a growing drug epidemic.

A total of 15 heroin overdoses were reported in Camden County over a two-hour period in March.

Since then, the county hosted a heroin summit in Collingswood on May 19 and
began using billboards to spread awareness about the epidemic.

Earlier this week, the Camden County Freeholder Board created a heroin awareness task force, with members to be named next month.

Also this week, a program that was being used in the Jersey Shore that allows law enforcement officials to carry the heroin antidote Narcan was approved for statewide use.