Far from a Party and “Hoopla”
By Albert B. Kelly
In a recent South Jersey Times editorial a number of
officials, I among them, were taken to task for the way the launch of the
County’s “Recovery on Wheels” program was announced earlier this month. If I
understood the point being made by the editorial board it was that while the
program itself was a worthy effort, the way it was launched was distasteful
because addiction and the damage caused by addiction is a serious and sober
thing and our launch seemed quite the contrary.
The Times Editorial Board is certainly entitled to their
view and perhaps they have a valid point but even if the launch itself was bad
form on our part, and I’m not convinced that it was, this should not be taken
as an indication that we are either unmindful of the gravity of the problem or
that we are taking a casual and unconcerned approach in attempting to address
it.
Yes, we were guilty of a little celebrating, but that
celebration was far from a party. If we celebrate, it’s not because we’re glib
in our attitudes toward addiction and related issues, but because we are
painfully aware of several things: how few resources are genuinely available, what
is involved with accessing such resources, the challenges of coordinating among
various stakeholders, and actually getting a working program up and running and
out to those who need it.
For my own part, I am fully aware of what’s at stake in a
personal way having had a loved one struggle with addiction. Honestly, I don’t
know whether this mobile program would have played a part in preventing my
loved one’s untimely death from addiction, but the idea that it could have and
that it might do so for someone in the future- that’s something to hold on to.
If there was celebration that day it was not because we
underestimate the gravity of the situation, but because we’re aware of the
difficulty in gaining public support and by extension resources, for
addiction-related services when too many still see addiction as a character
flaw of weak-willed “drug addicts” as opposed to a disorder worthy of
compassion even as we continue to learn what works and what doesn’t.
If we’re guilty of celebrating prematurely, that may be a
fair charge, but it’s because there’s so damned little to celebrate in the area
of health and wellness in a county that consistently ranks 21 out of 21 in
terms of statewide health rankings much of it related to substance abuse and
addiction.
So yes, we did celebrate this small beginning because we
know how much more needs to be done, we know there are no magic bullets, and
because it’s something to sustain us when the next four things we try may not work
or work as effectively as we’d hoped. But we will keep trying and perhaps celebrating.
More generally, if we were ham-handed and inelegant in
trying to bring attention and exposure to this program, I’ll concede as much
and say that it likely won’t be the last time public officials, individually or
collectively (me included), will be clumsy in trying to highlight whatever it
is that’s being launched or dedicated given the greatly diminished capacity of
local media to cover the various local beats as they once did.
This is not a criticism of these outlets, but an acknowledgement
that the journalism landscape has changed a lot in the last few years and the
revenues that once allowed for coverage of local things by regular beat reporters
getting background, asking questions, and writing stories to inform the public has
largely vanished so that what’s left is too often are clumsy officials hoping
to get the word out.
Recovery on Wheels has its limits to be sure and is perhaps
not nearly as worthy of celebration as the Inpatient Acute Medical
Detoxification and Addiction Treatment Center that Inspira dedicated at the old
Bridgeton Hospital in June of 2018, but then again we didn’t celebrate to the
degree we did back then- hoopla and all.
Celebrations and photo-ops surrounding the Recovery on
Wheels effort notwithstanding, it’s about those in need and the ability of
Recovery on Wheels to provide some basic services whether Narcan and
Narcan-related education, vaccinations, referrals, or health screenings. And if
this mobile initiative helps some of our residents as we hope it will, that will
be something we could all celebrate.
.