Police in Franklin Lakes NJ Implement New Amnesty Program for Heroin Users
Franklin Lakes NJ police implemented a radical policy change that will give heroin addicts the medical help they need in the event of a potentially fatal drug overdose.
According to officials, Franklin Lakes police will not be arresting or criminally charging people who choose to come forward and let authorities know that they need assistance to handle their drug addiction problems, whether those addiction issues involve heroin or other opiates.
The amnesty program will give heroin addicts the opportunity to be referred to drug counseling and addiction recovery services instead of being placed under arrest, prosecuted, and incarcerated.
Franklin Lakes officials made the bold to decision to change official policy on drug users because of an epidemic of heroin abuse, overdoses, and deaths in Franklin Lakes and elsewhere in Bergen County, New Jersey. NJ lawmakers, prosecutors, and judges have learned the hard way that drug users don’t always get the help they desperately need when they are placed behind bars.
Worse yet, many heroin addicts believe that it is not in their best interests to come forward in the first place because they are worried about being prosecuted for heroin possession.
The new policy should go a long way toward encouraging drug addicts to seek out the help they so desperately need.
The Franklin Lakes Police Department chief recently said that local law enforcement is committed to providing “whatever help it can to addicts who themselves seek help or for whom help is sought.”
For additional information about this case, view the Patch.com article, “Franklin Lakes Police Implement Heroin Amnesty Program.”
