PP Mar Vol 7 Iss 2 Pages:Layout 1

PREVENTIONPRESS
Printed by the Howell-Farmingdale Municipal Alliance • 2015 • Volume 7 • Issue 2
IN THE NEWS
20th Annual Mayor’s Cup Charity Golf Outing:
Fundraising to Fulfill Alliance’s Prevention Mission
On April 27th, the Howell Township
Municipal Alliance and Howell
Optimist Club will hold their 20th
Annual Charity Golf Outing, the
Howell Township Mayor’s Cup
Open, at Eagle Oaks Golf and
Country Club.
tors from across Howell Township,
such as the police, government representatives, educators, businesses,
community service groups, and the
public.
For event details regarding golfing,
purchasing 50/50 raffle tickets, placThe Howell Alliance’s portion of golf
ing an event journal advertisement,
outing proceeds will be applied
volunteering, making a donation, or
towards the implementation of further
becoming a sponsor, please reach
prevention and awareness strategies
out to Ralph Hoffman, Howell TownRalph Hoffman, Howell Alliance coordinator, and
and programs in our schools and
ship Alliance coordinator, 732-938Kristine Anderson, Howell Middle School North
community, in line with Howell
4500 ext. 4012 as soon as possible.
guidance counselor, accept a $2,500 donation
from
BJ’s
Wholesale
Club.
Township’s community-wide “Stop
Without community support, a sucHeroin. Start Talking. Say No.” campaign and the national
cessful golf outing and a dynamic Howell Municipal Alliance
heroin and prescription drug abuse epidemic.
are not possible!
The mission of the Howell Municipal Alliance is to eliminate
drug addiction, underage drinking, and tobacco use by our
community members through collaboration with other sec-
See Our Page 3 Feature,
“NJ’s Overdose Prevention Act:
Tell Your Teens”
Community Supporters Donate to Life Skills and Smart Lunch Programs
To fund its community and in-school prevention efforts,
the Howell Township Municipal Alliance relies upon grant
money from the Governor’s Council on Alcoholism and
Drug Abuse (GCADA), the same as the other 400
municipal Alliances across New Jersey do. The Howell
Municipal Alliance is also funded by Howell Township and
private donations, with collaborative efforts reinforcing
and strengthening the Alliance’s prevention message
throughout our community.
In September, 2014, Ruth Marietta RPh, CCP, and vice
president of the NJ Pharmacists Association, was
presented with $500 as the recipient of the Cardinal
Health Generation Rx Champions Award. In turn,
Marietta, also a Howell Municipal Alliance member,
donated the $500 to assist with Howell Alliancecoordinated youth life skills programs.
continued on page 2
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COVER STORY CONTINUED
Community Supporters Donate to
Life Skills and Smart Lunch Programs
“I chose to donate through the Howell Alliance
because of their diligent efforts in trying to prevent
drug abuse in the township, where the drug abuse
statistics are high. I am also employed as pharmacy
manager at the Route 9 and Lanes Mill Road
Walgreens in Howell, where I am a strong advocate
for the prevention of drug abuse,” shared Marietta. “I
am passionate about counseling and advising
customers who visit our Walgreens and participating
in community events.”
The Cardinal Health Generation Rx Champions
Award is presented to a pharmacist in recognition of
his or her efforts to prevent prescription drug abuse
and for outstanding service to the pharmacy community to raise awareness of this serious public
health problem.
In January, BJ’s Wholesale Club, new to Howell,
also donated $2,500 to the Smart Lunch program, a
school-based initiative supported by the Howell
Alliance. In addition, BJ’s contributed to other Howell
community organizations, such as the Howell Food
Pantry, Howell PAL, and Taunton Elementary
School.
Ruth Marietta, Alliance member and vice president of
NJ Pharmacists Association, receiving the Cardinal Health
Generation Rx Champions Award for $500, which Marietta
donated to the Alliance.
homework and catch up on missed assignments,
but students are also actually requesting to go to
Smart Lunch to study! It has certainly made a
positive impact on these students, which is proof
that Smart Lunch is really assisting our at-risk
students academically.”
Smart Lunch is a resource available for students to
study, receive extra help, and complete missed
assignments during their lunch breaks. The
guidance counselors from Howell Township’s three
middle schools shared the following feedback on
behalf of their teachers and support staff regarding
Smart Lunch:
• “Smart Lunch” — it’s all in the name! Students
who are using our Smart Lunch program are
making a smart choice. Students are experiencing
the results of their hard work paying off, and with
the achievement of good grades, their self-esteem
improves.”
• “Smart Lunch attendance is higher than it’s ever
been in previous years. The average attendance is
about 5 students per session, but there are some
days we max out at 15. Not only are teachers
assigning students as a motivation to do their
Smart Lunch was able to resume assisting students
in need for the 2014-2015 school year. Contributions
help fund Smart Lunch program student prizes,
incentives for participation, and stipends for
participating teachers.
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IN OUR COMMUNITY
NJ’s Overdose Prevention Act:
Tell Your Teens, a Life May Depend on It
The Overdose Prevention
Act, or Overdose Protection Act, signed into law
in New Jersey by Governor
Chris Christie on May 2nd,
2013, encourages citizens
to immediately call 9-1-1 for
medical assistance in the presence of a drug
overdose.
Before the Overdose Prevention Act, also known as
the "Good Samaritan Law," many people did not
summons medical assistance for overdoses due to
fear of arrest, prosecution by law, or conviction for
possession or use of a controlled dangerous
substance. Under this law, both the 9-1-1 caller and
the overdose victim are offered immunity from
punishment under the law for use or simple
possession of an illegal drug, as specifically defined
by the act.
On February 5th, 2015, the governor signed into law
an amendment to the initial legislation, further
exempting front line professionals (police, EMTs, and
needle exchange program employees) from certain
liabilities that could result from the administration of
opioid antidotes such as Narcan. Originally, only
health care professionals and others trained in
identifying and treating opioid overdoses were
protected from liabilities under the Overdose
Prevention Act.
Furthermore, all individuals authorized to dispense
opioid antidotes are also required to provide patients
with overdose prevention information.
Narcan, or naloxone, is an inexpensive, easy-toadminister antidote used in an attempt to reverse
overdoses from opioids such as heroin and the
prescription drug oxycontin.
Make sure teens and young adults you know are
familiar with the Overdose Prevention Act. It can
save a life and give a person suffering from
addiction the chance to seek the professional help
necessary to recover and start living a clean, sober
life.
For more information on the Overdose Prevention
Act, read “Governor Chris Christie Signs
Bipartisan Overdose Protection Act into Law”
and “Governor Christie Builds on Commitment
to Saving Lives with Expansion of Overdose
Protection Act” on the State of NJ, Office of the
Governor website, under the heading “Newsroom.”
S ee our back cover ar ticle, “ N a r c a n T r a i n i n g C o m e s t o H o w e l l ”
f or mor e inf or mation abo ut N ar can .
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Narcan Training Comes to Howell
On February 19th, 2015, Narcan training came to
the Howell community as part of the Opioid
Overdose Prevention Project, funded by the NJ
Department of Human Services, the Division of
Mental Health and Addiction Services, and
JSAS Healthcare, Inc. The project is also
supported by Barnabas Health Institute for
Prevention, the Monmouth County Division of
Mental Health and Addiction Services, and the
Monmouth County Health Department.
The Opioid Overdose Prevention Project’s Narcan
training programs are open to anyone at risk of an
opioid overdose, as well as family and friends.
Along with free Narcan kits and training on
administering Narcan, participating trainees also
receive treatment vouchers for 30 days of free
substance abuse treatment.
At Howell’s training session, 68 people attended,
with 34 people earning certification for Narcan
administration. Many participants were parents with
Empty your medicine
cabinet and save a life!
Drop unwanted
prescriptions in the
Project Medicine Drop
box at the Howell Police
Department.
Anonymous and
available 24-7.
http://www.njconsumeraffairs.gov/meddrop/
children suffering from addiction. The training,
organized by the CFC Loud N Clear Foundation
in conjunction with the Howell Alliance and other
township organizations, aimed to proactively raise
awareness of the heroin epidemic and equip
affected families with the means to save lives and
stop addiction.
“Although personal opinions vary about the availability and use of Narcan, we wanted to offer information to the interested members of our
community to help with recovery efforts,” commented Howell’s Mayor William Gotto. “Once
Narcan is administered, it is our goal that the affected individual will get immediate assistance in
an effective rehabilitation program to facilitate recovery from addiction and prevent future drug use.
Narcan is only one of the tools we use to assist residents during emergency overdose conditions, and
it should never be intended as a deterrent for prevention and proper treatment of heroin abuse.”
Stop Heroin. Start Talking.
Say NO.
www.howelltv.org/howellpsahd.wmv
Thank you to our sponsor, who makes
this newsletter possible.
For more information
and volunteer
opportunities visit:
www.twp.howell.nj.us
click on Departments,
then Municipal Alliance.
(Newsletter writing by Christa Riddle of All About Writing and production by Linda Coppolino of Little Hat Marketing & Design.)
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