LITTLE SILVER: HEROIN HITS HOME
Speaking about the heroin epidemic at a Red Bank Regional High School assembly were (left to right) Lt. Jason C. Clark, Capt. Barry DuBrosky, Lt. Wesley Mayo, Jr., and Abby Boxman.
Press release from Red Bank Regional High School
Law enforcement professionals from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office have been traversing Monmouth County for the past two years, sounding the alarm on the problem of heroin addiction affecting many young people.
Last year, their presentations were mainly geared to parental awareness — including two well-attended forums at Red Bank Regional High School (RBR) and Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School.
In October, they returned to RB — this time to have that very difficult conversation with students.
The detectives shared some startling statistics: 4.2 million Americans aged 12 or older have reported to used heroin at least once in their lives. Of that number, one in four will become addicted; shockingly only 20 percent of those who become addicted ever recover enough to assume productive lives. This problem has become rampant in the suburbs of New Jersey, with a 45 percent increase in heroin-related deaths in the past two years; 24 percent in the last year alone. One Powerpoint slide showed the unnatural causes of death for 2013 in the county: homicides 4; highway fatalities 29; drug overdoses 37 (of which 31 were due to heroin.)
“Is it here in Little Silver?” One student asked, to which Detective Barry DuBrosky responded, “The answer is yes.”