New Brunswick, N.J. (October 16, 2019) – Rutgers scholar Jamey Lister is available to discuss the opioid epidemic, its incursion into small cities and large rural communities, and a lack of understanding revealed in last night’s presidential debate.
“The Democratic candidates last night revealed a lack of depth of understanding on barriers to opioid use disorder treatment that complicate treatment access in rural (and urban) areas. They focused exclusively on the rural opioid epidemic, even though the steepest death rate increases now are among African Americans and in urban communities where fentanyl access has grown. New Jersey, the most densely populated state in the U.S., has experienced one of the more dramatic increases in the country (i.e., more than twice as many residents died in 2018 than in 2015). This may make South Jersey communities like Bridgeton particularly vulnerable. Bridgeton, a small city, surrounded by other rural communities has limited treatment options, is close enough to big cities with fentanyl distribution to increase overdose risk, and complicated by high poverty rates among city and county residents. Communities like Bridgeton, racially diverse and predominantly poor with a mix of rural and urban risk factors, are being overlooked in the current narrative,” Lister said.
Lister, an assistant professor at Rutgers School of Social Work, is an expert on the characteristics, consequences, and treatment of opioid use disorder among underserved populations.
For interviews, contact Megan Schumann at 848-445-1907 or [email protected].
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