NJPN has partnered with The Partnership for a Drug Free New Jersey as well as the Drug Enforcement Administration Newark Division to launch a new campaign focused on the dangers and problems associated with prescription and over-the-counter drug abuse. NJPN has developed a model curriculum to educate students, parents and professionals to raise awareness about this growing trend. 

Jason’s Message is named after NCADD of Middlesex County’s coalition coordinator, Linda Surks’s son. Jason was a pre-pharmacy major, worked part time in a pharmacy and saw medications being handed out everyday.  He believed the drugs were safe and visited websites that told him they were safe.  Unfortunately, in December 2003, Jason passed away after overdosing on Xanax, which he had been using recreationally. It is the hope of the committee that Jason’s Message can spread the message that prescription and OTC drug abuse is a serious concern.