Christie to add nearly 900 beds in N.J. to treat drug addiction, mental illness [View all]

TRENTON -- New Jersey will add nearly 900 more treatment beds for people who are addicted to drugs and alcohol and suffer from a mental illness -- expanding the state's inpatient mental health system by almost 40 percent, Gov. Chris Christie announced Tuesday.

The announcement is the latest step in Christie's plan to drive down the number of New Jerseyans who are addicted to heroin and opioid-based prescription medication.

Christie, a Republican, said in his State of the State speech earlier this month he intended to spend his final year in office focusing on what he has declared is a public health crisis.

In 2015, 1,600 people in New Jersey died from heroin and opioid overdose -- two times the national rate and a 22 percent increase from the year prior. NJ Advance Media estimates at least 128,000 in the state are addicted to heroin.

Read more: http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2017/02/christie_to_add_nearly_900_beds_for_addiction_ment.html