Medicine drop boxes like this one are located at local police departments throughout Cape May County, allowing residents to safely dispose of unwanted or expired prescription drugs.
By Donald Wittkowski
Joseph Landis, who grew up in the notorious drug-infested Kensington section of Philadelphia, makes no attempt to hide his father’s troubled past.
“My dad is a heroin addict, but is clean now,” he said.
Last year, he attended the funerals of two cousins who died of drugs. Other members of his family have battled addiction, he noted.
Landis is a lieutenant with the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office. While it might seem that a senior law enforcement official such as Landis would prefer a tough “lock ’em up” approach toward drug addicts, he actually favors a much different philosophy – he wants to help them.
“That junkie is somebody’s kid, somebody’s mom, aunt or uncle,” he said, putting a human face on addicts instead of demonizing them.
Landis and Cape May County Prosecutor Jeffrey Sutherland spent 90 minutes Saturday telling an audience of local residents about a series of county programs that are intended to prevent drug abuse, and, if it happens, how addicts can get help rather than simply being thrown in jail.
“It’s just as important preventing it as it is arresting people,” Sutherland said during a Fourth Ward community meeting at the Ocean City Free Public Library.
Lt. Joseph Landis favors helping drug addicts get into treatment programs over simply locking them up in jail.
Landis oversees the community outreach program in the prosecutor’s office and serves as a representative to the county Drug Court, also known as Recovery Court.
After speaking at Saturday’s meeting, Landis gave audience members a tour of the prosecutor’s Hope One van, a vehicle that allows a team of professionals trained in mental health and drug treatment to get out into the community to help addicts.
“We want to get to the people before they’re picked up by the criminal justice system,” Sutherland said.
Using forfeiture money seized from drug dealers who were arrested by the prosecutor’s office, Sutherland spent $50,000 to convert the van into a specially equipped, mobile facility offering access to drug prevention and treatment services.
“The goal of Hope One is to provide the community with information, resources, and immediate access to services and treatment facilities to get back on the road to recovery,” the prosecutor’s office says in literature about the van.
Ray and Cindy Endres, a married couple who live in Paramus, N.J., and bought a vacation home in Ocean City last year, were impressed with the van while taking the tour. They also sat in for the community meeting with Landis and Sutherland, coming away with what they said was a better understanding of the opioid crisis in Cape May County.
“It’s a shame this program wasn’t available 20 years ago,” Ray Endres said.
Lt. Joseph Landis gives Ray and Cindy Endres, who have a summer home in Ocean City, a tour of the Hope One van operated by the Cape May County Prosecutor's Office.
Altogether, about 30 local residents attended the community meeting. Ocean City Councilmen Keith Hartzell, Antwan McClellan and Michael DeVlieger also were on hand for Landis and Sutherland’s remarks.
From left, Ocean City Councilmen Keith Hartzell, Michael DeVlieger and Antwan McClellan talk after the community meeting.
Sutherland and Landis also pointed to the Drug Court as another progressive way that Cape May County has been addressing the opioid epidemic. The Drug Court program is a step-by-step process allowing addictions to get sober.
After they graduate from the Drug Court program, they can file to have their criminal records expunged and also seek help in getting jobs.
“It’s a process of getting them out of the cycle and back into society,” Sutherland said.
Cape May County has recently added a diversion program for military veterans who are battling drug abuse. Sutherland hopes to expand the program to help veterans who may also be struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder or economic hardship.
“I really think it’s going to be a successful program,” he said.
After outlining the county’s drug programs to the audience members, Sutherland told them that they, too, could help fight the opioid crisis simply by properly disposing of their expired or unwanted prescription medications. That way, the drugs will be kept out of the hands of addicts, he said.
Cape May County’s local police departments, including Ocean City, offer medicine drop boxes where residents can quickly and anonymously dispose of any unwanted prescription drugs.
Medicine drop boxes like this one are located at local police departments throughout Cape May County, allowing residents to safely dispose of unwanted or expired prescription drugs.
