Heroin Problem in Monmouth County is Second Only to Essex County

I think a poll of NJ residents would have little chance of identifying Monmouth County or Ocean County as top counties in terms of heroin possession and usage. The reality is, however, that Monmouth County ranked second behind Essex County in terms of heroin addiction. Ocean County was number five in terms of heroin addicts.

As a criminal defense attorney in New Jersey, I witness the aftermath of heroin possession, distribution and usage every day. Usage includes young and old, rich and poor, and does not delineate between man or women. The prevalence of heroin usage is staggering in my view and manifests just how robust the supply of dope is in NJ. Its cheap, readily accessible, and almost instantly addictive. To make matters worse, the primary means of controlling addiction is methadone - another drug that is highly addictive and ripe with dependency issues. I do not have the answer for the problem but simply know that it is growing every day. We help those that we can and keep our fingers crossed that our efforts provide some longterm benefit to the heroin user and their families.

Criminal Charges Up in Monmouth County & Ocean County NJ

The statewide crime statistics have been released for Monmouth County and Ocean County. In terms of violent crime, Ocean County had an approximately 8% increase in 2008 whereas Monmouth County had a decrease of a similar percentage. The offenses included in these figures were murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault.  In terms of details, Aggravated Assault charges were in both Counties.

Non-violent statistics included burglary, larceny/theft, and motor vehicle theft.  Both Counties experienced a sizable increase in non-violent crime.  Larceny and theft was up in Monmouth County and Ocean County. This might be expected given the economic downturn.

Notwithstanding the statistics, I cannot say that our NJ criminal defense practice has noticed any change. The deviations appear to be very minor and do not appear to be the result of any push one way or another.