Where the Recovery Community Stands in the Obama Administration

What does the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States of America mean for the recovery community and the issues we support? What kind of effect will the state of the economy have on the priorities of the incoming Obama administration and on the goals of the new Congress? These are all valid questions worth following in the coming weeks, months and years.

Where does the recovery community stand? As many of you know, the ‘Paul Wellstone/Pete Domenici Parity Bill’ was attached to the ‘Financial Bailout Bill’ Congress passed earlier this fall and the President signed. It was a major victory for our community and the many people who need help, but what now? How will the Obama administration implement the law? Will the Obama administration be friendlier to the recovery community in terms of funding and support programs? It seems as though ‘yes’ is the answer, but the economy and the fiscal crisis in general may have something to say about it and other new ideas President-elect Obama has.

Our country faces the possibility of losing our ‘AAA’ bond rating. This would significantly impair future spending, borrowing, and basically all types of commerce and economy. It does not take much to realize what it means for the recovery community and other groups and interests vying for funds and support. The government: federal, state, and local would have to begin serious prioritizing of where, how and when to spend money.

California, like many of the states, is battling a major revenue shortfall and a budget deficit. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed a series of spending cuts coupled with tax increases, among them a temporary increase in the state sales tax and an increase in the alcohol tax: a nickel per drink on beer, wine and spirits. The increase in the alcohol tax would generate $878 million to combat budget woes. The political climate in California has been tepid towards any tax increases: the governor failed to garner any Republican support for his tax increase package over the summer. The silver lining in this proposal is some of the funds will be dedicated to alcohol related issues, according to the Marin Institute.

NCADD-NJ was at the forefront of a similar policy debate, here in New Jersey, in the spring of 2006. A strong grassroots movement, the Just a Nickel campaign, was instituted to advocate for raising New Jersey’s alcohol tax to raise revenue for treatment and addiction services. This movement resulted in Governor Jon Corzine putting something more than “just a nickel” in his first budget. The Governor proposed a five cents per gallon increase on beer and a ten cents per gallon increase on wine and spirits. Ultimately, the proposal failed in the legislature, but the groundwork was laid for future endeavors.

Fast forward to today. A policy window for our issues has opened up in New Jersey. Recently, the New Jersey Senate held a hearing to look into the alcohol polices on New Jersey’s college campuses. Members of the Amethyst Initiative testified about their goals. College and university officials from across the state testified about their alcohol policies and the behaviors of their student bodies in relation to those policies.

The only thing we can be certain of as a community is that we are in a waiting game, much like the rest of the political community and America in general. As President-elect Obama formulates his cabinet and staff and as new members arrive on Capitol Hill, new policy ideas will be formulated along with new questions and the general unknown as to what will happen come January 20, 2009 and beyond.

How will the financial crisis be handled? How will the two-fronted war be resolved? Will an era of bipartisanship be ushered in like President-elect Obama campaigned for? These are questions we can ask ourselves in the coming months and years. But we do not have to sit on the sidelines and ponder this. We can be active in our local, state, and national arenas advocating and championing our causes. We can be the forefront for shaping the new American policy arena in this time.

Delighted Diners

It was that time of year again: Gratitude Dinner for Friends of Addiction Recovery – New Jersey. After five consecutive years of celebrating our volunteers, it is still invigorating to do so. This year’s crowd included new leaders, a “friend” that became an employee of NCADD-NJ and the faithful that we depend on to carry the message of Friends. We were glad to entertain a group of 40 on November 22, 2008.
This year’s Recovery Month Recovery Cruise & Rally video captured Saturday, September 27 from New Jersey to New York and back to New Jersey. The film was well-received by the group. Ovations were given to those who were in the video from our group. It was good to know that one of our own, Mr. Rich Stabp was the National Delegate representing New Jersey at the New York event. We remain grateful to those who give of their time year-round to contribute to this valuable work.

Public Hearings: Stop the Incarceration Cycle

ASSEMBLY MAJORITY LEADER BONNIE WATSON COLEMAN
COUNTING THE COST HEARINGS

Upcoming "Counting the Cost" hearings will be examining the cycle of arrest, incarceration, reintegration & re-entry. New Jersey Assembly Majority Leader Bonnie Watson Coleman will host a series of public hearings aimed at the pervasive cycle of arrest, incarceration, release and re-incarceration and its impact on our economy, our families and our communities.

Schedule of Hearings

November 21, 2008
Middlesex County Hearing -"Families and Incarceration"
Date: November 21, 2008
Location: First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens
771 Somerset Street, Somerset
Time: 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Mercer County Hearing - "A Second Look at Sentencing."
December 8, 2008
Location: Shiloh Baptist Church
340 S. Howard Woodson Jr. Way, Trenton
Time: 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Essex County Hearing - "Training & Treatment"
December 11, 2008
Location: Rutgers University Newark- Paul Robeson Center
350 Dr. Martin Luther King Blvd. Newark
Time: 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

For more information, or to testify at one of the hearings listed. Please call (609) 292-0500

Video Documents Journey from Liberty State Park to Brooklyn Bridge and Back for Addiction Recovery Month

Supported by the Recovery Project and the A&E Network, this year's Recovery Cruise and Rally was extraordinary in a number of ways. Most obvious was the human bridge of recovery that spanned the Brooklyn Bridge and led into Manhattan. With the crowd of 5,000 and the spectacle of those many individuals acting in unison to demonstrate the strength of recovery, the Rally embodied the determined advocacy to have addiction accepted and treated as a disease. This video documents the journey including national, NYC metro and Friends of Addiction Recovery-New Jersey participants who made their way from Liberty State Park in Jersey City to the Brooklyn Bridge and back on Saturday, September 27, 2008.



See other highlights of the day

Rider has had one too many...

Another day, another news story about Rider University and its rowdy student body. This time the fireworks took place at an off campus party hosted by former members of the now defunct fraternity Zeta Beta Tau. But does it even matter? Do the details even matter? This time the police responded to an off campus event, the time before it was on campus, the time before that the same. Does it matter that a student was rushed to the hospital with a broken jaw, broken teeth and bleeding in the brain? When is enough, well, enough? As a current Rider student I wonder about this daily.

Does the school care there were around 150 students there, many of them drinking underage? Does the school care that over the last year and a half two students have died from drug and alcohol related incidents? I would hope yes, but in reality I have to say no. Sure the school made “changes.” They hired people to handle alcohol and drug related incidents. A “good Samaritan” policy was instituted to protect students when they seek medical attention for a friend who has had one too many. There is now more “university presence” in the Greek houses. They may advertise their anti-alcohol policies a little more, but nothing has really changed. I’m sorry if I sound caustic, bitter, or jaded, but the actions of these students and the subsequent responses from the University are a reflection of what I feel my Rider University degree will mean come this May, and what a degree from this so called institution of higher learning will mean for all students past and present.

Let me give you a perfect example. What do I hear when I walk into class on an average day? I hear fellow students talking about “how wasted they got the night before” or how “wicked” a party was. Correct me if I’m wrong, but the goal of higher education is not to master funneling beer or doing the most shots, it is to give you a well rounded education, concentrated on a core area. Students should be rewarded for working hard on and off campus. It should mean something to the University when students land prestigious internships or careers with Fortune 500 companies. The University should strive to foster an educational arena that isn’t competing with “Greek life” bacchanals. After all, Rider is an institution of higher learning.The campus mentality should not be “D for Degree.” Academics should be Rider University’s core focus. I have worked hard for the past three and half years to maintain a pretty respectable GPA. I have worked hard to become politically active and build a well-rounded rolodex. Not only that, but I have had a job during my entire Rider career to pay for my education. And what reward do I and my like-minded colleagues who strived to make themselves and Rider a better place get: news stories about drunken fights at house parties, blurbs in the Rider news about intoxicated guests becoming personas non grata, stories about drunken students driving across campus walkways, and repeated property damage which affects all students.

I strongly urge the administration at Rider to rethink current policy and to reprioritize and refocus the core mission of the University to make it more responsive to academic needs. Serious thought needs to be given to eliminating Greek life altogether. It may sound harsh, but there is a strong connection between the negative events that have transpired over the past year and a half and their activities on and off campus. Serious thought should be given to zero tolerance policies for violating existing alcohol and drug policies on campus.

Rider needs to do a lot to restore its academic integrity and I know that as a community, we can meet this challenge; however I do not want my degree from Rider to amount to a beer-soaked flyer announcing yet another keg party. I am sure the administration does not want such a reputation for the school. It is time school officials deal with this problem openly and firmly, that the university be known for the books and not the beer its student body consumes.