Community Leaders Come Together to Fight Drugs and Alcohol Abuse

A task force spearheaded by the Lacey Township Municipal Alliance has begun its work to tackle drug and alcohol issues facing the community. 

The task force held its first meeting April 30, which was attended by Police Chief William Nally, schools Superintendent Dr. Sandra Brower, Deputy Mayor David Most, religious leaders, and businesspeople.

"We want to pinpoint what we want to do," said Health Scanlon, Municipal Alliance Coordinator. "Whether we should target an age group or choose a particular type of drug to focus on."

Deputy Mayor Most said the first meeting was a good start, during which they brainstormed ideas.

"We're trying to do the small things because one concept or remediation won't be the antidote," said Most. "In the end we will have an impact, we just have to work collectively."

Most and Scanlon had been talking about the need for one body to make real inroads in the fight against drug and alcohol abuse for the past year and after meeting with various community leaders, felt the time was right to hold a meeting. During that meeting, Scanlon said they discussed the new municipal ordinance that allows police to cite minors caught drinking on private property, the establishment of a permanent drop-off point for residents to dispose of unused prescription drugs, and identifying opportunities to speak to large groups about the anti-substance abuse message.

Most pointed to the successful national anti-smoking campaign as an example.

"Look at what that did through education," he said. "We need to do the small things to chip away at the problem. Education is such a powerful tool."

Scanlon said she is happy the task force has gotten off the ground.

"It's good to keep this on the forefront," said Scanlon. "Another one of our residents died last week because of problems with addiction."

Scanlon said a subset of the group met on May 3 and developed a draft mission statement. Another meeting has been set for Wednesday, June 6, during which task force members were asked to come back with ideas about the group's direction moving forward.