At a Crossroads; Middletown Substance Abuse Services Told To Hit the Road

Anyone who thinks Middletown doesn’t have a widespread drug problem either has their head in the sand, waiting for the train to pass, are ignorant, uninformed or in total denial. All they need to do is read the weekly Middletown Police reports that I post here to know that there is a big, big problem. Every week the report is filled with the names of Middletown residents that have been arrested on various drug possession charges. If reading the police reports aren’t enough to convince you that there is a problem than take a look at the Methadone clinic on the corner of Apple Tree Farm Rd and Hwy 35 – if there isn’t a problem, why is it there? - Or talk to any Middletown high school student that you know and ask them if they is a problem, if they’re honest you’d be astonished. My son and a few of his friends have told me in the past that the hallways of his school are full of all kinds of drugs that can be easily scored at anytime. There are kids that sell drugs out of their lockers between periods and after school. 

As a parent of a teenager, I’m concerned when I hear that drugs are as prevalent as they seem to be. It’s easy to dismiss what a handful of teenagers say and chalk it up as teenage angst or hyperbole, knowing what it was like when I was 17 years old and in high school. We all knew who the druggies were and where to get a couple of joints if that was what you were into, but today it’s different, we’re not talking about marijuana anymore, we’re talking heavy duty drugs like Heroine, methamphetamines and prescription drugs such as Oxycodine and Xanax. It’s scary how easy it is for kids to get a hold of this stuff and get hooked. That’s why it concerns me when I hear that Crossroads, the township sponsored substance abuse counseling center located at Middletown’s Croydon Hall complex, has been told that it must ” hit the road” to make room for the new, all girls “catholic school”, Trinity Hall.

Back in January, the Middletown Township Committee passed ORDINANCE # 2013-3076, leasing the former Parks & Recreation Administration Building on the Croydon Hall property, to Trinity Hall. Trinity Hall describes itself as an “independent all-girls high school in Monmouth County……. (Whose) mission purposely honors the values of Roman Catholicism – an objective valued by the school’s founders from the start.” The township ordinance refers to this temporary lease as “expanding educational opportunities in the community while also providing much needed funding for open space and recreational purposes, and resulting in certain capital improvements being made to the building.”, which is all well and good however, the Trinity Hall administrators have expressed concerns regarding the many individuals (both young and old) and families who utilize the services within Crossroads - Crossroads was opened in 1998 and is a short-term, outpatient treatment center which offers services at no charge to Middletown residents. It is a New Jersey State Licensed facility that provides education, consultation, assessment, treatment and referral assistance to all who need it. Crossroads provides several types of counseling services which includes individual adolescent and adult counseling, family counseling, and group counseling. Crossroads is also home to the Middletown Municipal Alliance for the Prevention of Substance Abuse.... 

continue reading on MiddletownMike.com