New Jersey lawmakers hope to curb teen suicides with new legislation

TRENTON, N.J. - No matter how difficult the conversation may be, New Jersey lawmakers are looking for new tools to prevent teen suicides.

A new bill, sponsored in part by Assemblyman Benjie Wimberly, looks to do just that.

"The importance, unfortunately, is to remove the stigma that you can't talk about suicide," said Wimberly (D-NJ 35^th District). "The mental health aspect of this is paramount for us to address what's the best practice and what's the best studies to prevent suicide."

If passed into law, each NJ hospital would be required to create an annual report of the number of suicides and attempted and completed suicides involving minors, in which a drug is used. The hospitals would be required to report demographic information and what drug was used.

The reports would be sent to the New Jersey Poison Control Center at Rutgers, which would then submit a report to the Governor's desk and the Legislature.

"Unfortunately, this has been taboo, particularly in many minority communities," said Wimberly. "Nobody wants to talk about somebody trying to commit suicide or thinking about committing suicide or having those discussions."

According to the CDC, suicide is the second leading cause of death for youths ages 10 to 24.

"We've seen an increase of suicides unfortunately that have been completed by young folks and attempts over the years," said Wimberly.

Working with Assemblyman Herb Conaway on the bill, Wimberly says the data compiled from these reports would give lawmakers information they didn't have before.

"This bill is really targeted towards teens and hopefully will work towards the prevention, with us having the knowledge of what triggers it, what is the drug, what is the demographic that is most at risk when it comes to suicide attempts," said Wimberly, "so all of these things will definitely work in our favor as far as prevention."

The bill is set to be discussed in committee on Thursday.