families who've lost a loved one to fentanyl poisoning or whose lives have been affected by the tragic overdose crisis are gathering this week for an annual event with the Drug Enforcement Administration in New Jersey searching for ways to work together and slow the unprecedented rate of deaths being caused by the deadly drunk senior correspondent Joanna gagas reports today we gather together as a community in memory of those who have lost their lives to drug poisonings specifically fentanyl the New Jersey Division of The Drug Enforcement Administration held its second annual family Summit today focused on the scourge of fentol in our state and Nation last year according to the CDC 110,00 157 Americans lost their lives to drug poisonings that's over 300 people a day the speakers included the top law enforcement Professionals in the state outlining what each of their departments is doing to combat the growing problem of fenyl poisonings in New Jersey like New Jersey's attorney general Matt platkin for a long time the addiction crisis was viewed as a criminal problem and punitive approaches were deployed and I think we can all agree we're resounding failures and we have changed our approach in New Jersey collaboratively across our federal state and local Partnerships to tackle this epidemic for what it is a public Health crisis where law enforcement plays a critical role but not the only role and New Jersey's us attorney Philip singer who spoke about the department of Justice's recent initiatives including $345 million for Noone distribution peer support for families who've lost loved ones and education and awareness around fentanyl the violent drug cartels are manufacturing the Fentanyl and fake pills so they designed to look exactly like the brand name pills but instead they contain deadly amounts of fentanyl agents of the DEA uh Federal prosecutors in my office are working tirelessly to prosecute those who are flooding our communities with these drugs in New Jersey alone there were approximately 2,900 overdose deaths last year which is a slight improvement from the more than 3,100 deaths the year prior but the state's recently launched an expansion of its harm reduction sites with the goal of having at least one in every County as acting Health commissioner Dr Caitlyn basan explains the harm reduction centers can offer a multitude of services they range so they can have from anything that prevents overdose death to preventing infection they can test for infections some sites do more than others some offer kind of a broader spectrum of care and even medication on site so with that multitude of services we could be saving lives from all different ways it's a battle it's a battle beyond the information sessions this Summit gives grieving loved ones a chance to talk about what comes next after their loss and how they turn their pain into advocacy like my heart was broken yet I was getting constantly stabbed you know my son was poisoned to death um his investigation is a murder investigation because he was deceived I think we need to really talk about how fentanyl most of the time is being put in things that people don't know what they're doing it's a poisoning it's not an overdose an overdose is when you do something that you're aware of and you do too much and you overdose and die we are now focused really on education education in the schools um education in the community the photos of lost loved ones around the room a somber reminder of why this work matters so much in New Brunswick I'm Joanna Gagis NJ Spotlight News