The United States is in the middle of the worst drug epidemic in its history, and the solution needs to be a coordinated approach that incorporates prevention, treatment and law enforcement, said a panel of experts assembled for “Inside the Opium (Legal) Wars.”

The seminar was held at the New Jersey State Bar Association Annual Meeting and Convention, held in Atlantic City earlier this month. Incoming NJSBA President John E. Keefe Jr. moderated the session.

Andrew Kolodny, co-director of opioid policy research at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University, reviewed the history of opioid addiction-related deaths, noting how the numbers have steadily risen since 1996. “This is not an epidemic of abuse, it's an epidemic of addiction,” Kolodny said. “There is no other country on earth that prescribes opioids as much as we do.”

Ellen Relkin of Weitz & Luxenberg, who is currently on the executive committee of mass tort lawyers in federal multi-district litigation over opioids, outlined a number of cases underway in New Jersey and across the country against manufacturers, distributers, and, in some cases, retailers, of opioids. They are, she said, “compelling” cases, and some of the most complicated cases she's come across during her career focused on medical device and pharmaceutical product liability. “It's a huge team working to get these cases ready.”

New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal, who created an office within the Office of the Attorney General devoted to fighting the opioid addiction crisis in February, noted over 2,000 opioid-related overdose deaths in 2016, the most recent year for which data is available. “This is the issue shaping our world,” he said. “This is an epidemic that touches nearly everyone.”

Grewal urged attendees to visit the state website njcares.gov, which features a repository of data and public information on opioid addiction in New Jersey. He also talked about Operation Helping Hand, where law enforcement has teamed with health professionals to find users options for treatment.