Wagner Says Municipal Alliance Would Benefit All Communities

Every day we seem to hear of another senseless death of a 20-something in our local communities.

Many of the communities in my District, the 38th District, have a, “Municipal Alliance,” that is working to combat issues like this as well as many others.  The members of the alliance are people who are on the ground providing each other with the pulse of their communities in order to provide positive fun activities with a message.

The Municipal Alliance fosters a positive message of self-esteem and fun while informing each other of the dangers drugs pose for our communities, while also suggesting policies through discussion.   

The Municipal Alliance that I am a part of in Paramus has come up with various solutions to the problems that exist  as well as some problems that are budding.

There is no doubt the D.A.R.E program is necessary however, rather than fifth grade participation perhaps we should be using the program in the eighth grade in order to prepare and  educate our kids for their high school years. There needs to be a sturdy foundation of support in both the federal and  state government for police to carry through D.A.R.E.

To supplement this, we could also provide local drug hot lines to report not only drug problems but also drug sales that could potentially be taking place. A separate but totally relevant problem is where this culture of drugs, particularly prescription drugs, is coming from.

Perhaps the most important thing we need to do as communities is hold the pharmaceutical industry accountable.

On a daily basis, we are inundated with advertising on television regarding both sleeping aids and energy  supplements. Our society has become a bastion to not wanting to deal with the simple problems and struggles of  every day life. These drugs have become a quick fix for a society that simply does not want to be bothered by a normal recovery period.

Outside of turning our televisions off and tuning into ways to both sleep and stay awake naturally, we should be conducting an all out campaign to clear out our medicine cabinets and keep our medications  out of our children’s hands, no matter what age they might be.

Our towns need to take the initiative and develop store front Human Services Departments. One town that has already put this into practice is Paramus.

Under the leadership of Irene Maury, the citizens of Paramus have been
well served and the Human Services Dept. has been an outstanding example of what a well-run successful government can do for its citizens.

All of the aforementioned ideas and practices have been developed by our Municipal Alliance and I know that many  other towns not only in my district, but also in Bergen County and around New Jersey, are doing the same great
things for their communities.

The Municipal Alliance is representative of how citizens of our communities can  come together for a greater purpose.

I look forward to continuing to participate with this group and we should all be having more honest discussions about the real problems that effect our communities, like drug use, in the years to come.

Assemblywoman Connie Wagner
District 38