Tuesday, July 17, 2012
A former addict with 17 years of sobriety and outreach under his belt, shared his difficulty gaining quality support for those in need.
The panel called him Shannon. The fact that it was not his real name did nothing to negate the quiet respect he commanded when he sat to testify before the Governor's Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Task Force on Heroin and Other Opiate Use Amongst New Jersey's Youth and Young Adults at the Daytop Prep School last Tuesday in Mendham. Shannon was a recovering alcoholic and drug user who saw the system from the inside, and now works in his free time to improve it from the outside. “There are those of us who are able to recover,” Shannon said to the task force. Shannon has been clean since December 22, 1994 and he said that despite the reality of the situation he was living in, he never saw his life for what it was. “The active alcoholic…
Monday, July 16, 2012
Hunterdon County's Anthony P. Kearns III testified on the dangers of heroin in suburbia.
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Monday, July 16, 2012
According to Hunterdon County Prosecutor Anthony Kearns III, a community doesn't need a main street to have a drug problem, nor does it need an urban center to have gang activity. Kearns was at the Daytop Prep School in Mendham last Tuesday to testify for the Task Force on Heroin and Other Opiate Use Amongst New Jersey's Youth and Young Adults. In a prepared statement, Kearns described the geography of rural Hunterdon county. "We are one hour from New York City, one hour from Philadelphia and 15 minutes from Trenton," Kearns said. "Route 78 runs right through Hunterdon County." This, according to Kearns, provides easy access to drugs that Kearns says are being sold by gangs out their cars. Despite making public arrests, the perception of …
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Spring Lake residents discuss challenges of finding the right help for their son.
Their son had stolen from them. Lied to them. Made them pariah's in their community. But John and Linda, whose last name was withheld for privacy, still loved their 19-year-old son, and they traveled from Spring Lake to be his advocate once again. Sitting in the gym Tuesday at Daytop Prep School, a Mendham non-profit substance abuse treatment organization, John and Linda testified to the Task Force on Heroin and Other Opiate Use Amongst New Jersey's Youth and Young Adults with details of their plight, and the hope that their experience could help make a change statewide. Their testimony was first before the panel, who will be crafting a report of their findings for Gov. Chris Christie and the legislature on how to address the epidemic of …
VCL
11:37 am on Thursday, July 19, 2012
Shannon makes an excellent point: Detox and Rehab facilities release clients way too early, making them extremely susceptible to relapse. They generally do not get released with enough sober time under their belts to have a viable chance to succeed. more ›