To the Editor:
There is a drug epidemic in District (31st/NJ), in particular, a heroin epidemic that affects Hudson, Essex, and Bergen counties. It is also affecting New York City. We are in the midst of it, and there have been several stories reported about local young people dying from overdoses in the last couple of months. These are but a sample of what is really going on. Most cases never make the news. There are many young people walking our streets on heroin every day. If you walk Broadway, you walk by them. If you walk on Ocean Ave. or MLK Drive in Jersey City, you walk by them; they are on the light rail in plain view. And they are in our ERs and morgues. I’ve been talking about this issue for some time now, and it is only recently that the federal government has acknowledged the extent of the problem. Action is needed. This is an issue that is affecting all of us because it is affecting our youth and young adults. It is a serious issue that affects public health, increases crime, and affects the overall quality of life for all residents of the 31st District.
Drug use is not a “victimless crime” as some like to say. It brings crime and death to any neighborhood it touches. What needs to be done is increase the resources to deal with this situation, and this can include beefing up local police and sheriff patrols with help from the state or federal government, getting aid from the State Police, or getting the FBI involved because what we are dealing with here is major drug cartels plying their trade in our neighborhoods, near our schools and playgrounds. Elect Zanowic and Rodriguez, and you will see the actions that can be taken to put a major dent into such operations. We will petition the governor, the State Senate and Assembly and whatever other powers we need in order to clean the 31st District of the rampant drug activity now affecting our neighborhoods. One more dead is one too many. One more robbery for drug money is one too many. This November 3, elect those who will take the fight to those responsible, who will bring the fight to Trenton and get the action we need. The futures of our children and grandchildren depend on ridding our district of this plague. No city or area can prosper and thrive if it has to endure an ongoing drug epidemic. We refuse to stand idly by while our neighborhoods are destroyed. Be a part of the solution, stand with us and help us to get the job done.
ANTHONY ZANOWIC
Candidate for State Assembly (31st/NJ)