Celebrating Recovery

It was one year ago this weekend that we met Spring Lake native Jessie Grieb as she departed the Seastreak Ferry in Highlands during her walk from the Canadian border in Maine to Key West, Florida.

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Jessie Grieb arrives in Key West

Jessie Grieb, the 27 year old Spring Lake native who set out last July to walk from Fort Kent, Maine to Key West, Florida to raise awareness about the opioid addiction crisis, and support her own recovery, arrived in the Conch Republic early yesterday evening.  She is scheduled to arrive at Mile Marker 0 this morning at 9 a.m.  Tune into her facebook page for the emotional conclusion of her inspiring journey.

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Spring Lake Heights Native’s Journey Continues To Inspire Thousands While Raising Awareness About Addiction Crises

When we met Jessie Grieb in Highlands last October, she was three months into her 2575 mile walk from Fort Kent, Maine to Key West, Florida.  Now, six months later, she’s less than 400 miles from her destination and has touched thousands of lives in her mission to raise awareness about the opioid addiction crises which takes more American lives annually than the entire Vietnam War took.

Jessie spent the night camped outside of Cocoa Florida Police Department earlier this week. Her story inspired the department to compile this inspiring video of her travels for their facebook page.  The Monmouth County leg of Jessie’s journey made the cut. Read the rest of this entry »

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Congressman Smith urges Senate to pass legislation combating opioid crisis

Congressman Chris Smith

Congressman Chris Smith today called upon his colleagues in the U.S. Senate to take swift action on a series of bills that passed this House this week which boost the federal response to the opioid crisis with support for  victims and service providers.

The legislation passed this weeks targets $3.3 billion in funding that was part of the 2018 omnibus spending bill signed into law by President Trump earlier this year.

“As the opioid epidemic continues to proliferate, our efforts to treat and prevent this disease at the federal level must be redoubled,” Smith said. “This crisis requires a more aggressive and comprehensive response to the problem, which is exactly what this package of bills will accomplish. The Senate needs to pass this legislation as quickly as possible—the severity of the crisis demands it.” Read the rest of this entry »

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Op-Ed: The Opioid-Addiction Industrial Complex – America’s Dirty Secret

Scott Rudder Turn on any radio or television channel and you will hear a report or an advertisement about the opioid addiction crisis in New Jersey and across the United States. If you continue to stay tuned to that channel, you will hear an advertisement promoting a prescription drug to help you with your pain issues.… Read the rest of this entry »

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Sheriff Golden Hosts Heroin Forum with Students, Educators and Law Enforcement

Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden brought college and high school students from throughout the County to Freehold on Tuesday for the second annual Student Ambassadors For Heroin Use Prevention forum.

The unique program that Golden launched last October brings student leaders together with educators, law enforcement officials and other government and non-profit drug abuse agencies to share information–both ways–to empower the students to lead their peers away from heroin use and to support the adults in improving their drug abuse prevention efforts.

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Sheriff Golden Addresses the Heroin Epidemic

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Sheriff’s Office Enlists Students In Heroin Epidemic Fight

Sheriff Golden moderates group with students

Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden launched a forum to prevent opiate abuse with students from area colleges and high schools yesterday, the Student Ambassadors For Heroin Use Prevention. The first program of its kind in the state of New Jersey, the ongoing program will bridge students and leaders of various agencies together, to address opiate addiction.

“Law enforcement, educational and behavioral healthcare professionals can’t combat this problem alone,” said Sheriff Shaun Golden. “That’s why it’s of the utmost importance that our adolescents and young adults, along with the professionals, work together to provide new and innovative approaches, strategies and solutions. Through this initiative we hope to inhibit the wave of opiate use, addiction and related deaths.”

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Hospitals Join Law Enforcement In Fight Against Opiate Overdose Deaths

Every hospital in Monmouth and Ocean Counties will exchange ready-to-use new doses of the overdose antidote naloxone, free of charge, for the empty syringes used to resuscitate the overdose victims, under a partnership agreement announced today by Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni and Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato.

The hospitals affiliated with Barnabas Health, Meridian Health and CentraState Medical Center are absorbing 100% of the cost of the antidotes exchanged with law enforcement officers, according to Charles Webster, spokesman for Gramiccioni’s office.

“Protecting our citizens is our most basic and fundamental function in law enforcement. We can’t do it alone, so we count on help from friends and partners who cooperate with us and who share, in some form or fashion, the same responsibility and commitment in helping to protect human life. It is these partnerships that make us even better.  Through this partnership, our local hospitals are standing with us as we fight the deadly epidemic of heroin or prescription opiates drug overdoses,” Gramiccioni said.

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Large Heroin Trafficking Ring Busted

U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman

Fourteen members of a major Jersey shore drug trafficking organization (DTO) were arrested this morning by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. The DTO is alleged to be a large-scale supplier of heroin and cocaine in Monmouth, Ocean and Middlesex counties.

U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman joined representatives of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and the DEA in announcing the arrests at the Prosecutor’s satellite office in Asbury Park.

A total of 22 defendants were charged in two complaints. 7 remain at large and one has been in custody since September on other charges.

Herve Cadet, a/k/a “Gotti,” a/k/a “Bro,” 29, of Neptune and Sayreville, New Jersey; and Eric Smith, a/k/a “EV,” a/k/a “E,” 42, of Manchester, New Jersey are the alleged leaders of the DTO. Smith is the defendant who has been incarcerated since September.

“The criminal complaints describe drug trafficking operations that have been responsible for sizable quantities of illegal narcotics on the streets of Asbury Park, Neptune Township, and the surrounding towns,” U.S. Attorney Fishman said. “We hope and expect that today’s arrests will make a real difference to the drug trafficking trade in these counties. This is not the last that you will hear from us in this fight.”
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