The Middletown Medical clinic has been open for approximately 3 weeks distributing methadone to opiate-addicted individuals at the corner of Apple Farm Road and Hwy 35. Local residents are outraged at not being made aware of it and question Township officials excuses about how such a clinic could be allowed to operate at this location.
I've been told that when residents recently question Zoning Officer Mary Ann Hanko, she stated that she approved the application for this clinic without knowing fully what it's true purpose was, she thought it was a health clinic that dealt with pharmaceuticals, I was told. She went ahead herself and approved the application without knowing the true purpose of the clinic and without the approval of anyone within the Township's governing body!Supposedly when contacted, Mayor Fiore and others had no clue that this Middletown clinic was distributing methadone to addicts from towns in the surround the area.
It never ceases to amaze me how one hand doesn't know what the other hand in Middletown is doing.
Neighbors of the clinic are distributing flyers to local residents in Apple Brook, Maguire's Grove and Twin Brooks developments to warn and inform then of the clinc and urge them to attend Monday night's Township Committee meeting to voice their concerns over it (below is the text of the flyer)
After thinking about this for a little while, I have to agree with the resident. Even if it is a very small possibility, I wouldn't want addicts, whether they are in treatment or otherwise, wondering around the neighborhood streets or parking lots of areas businesses waiting for their fix. Who knows what something like that could potentially lead to. Evidently, the Middletown Police department is also concerned about the situation because I was told police presence has increased the area notably.
APPLE BROOK NEIGHBORHOOD ALLIANCE
Dear Neighbors,
This letter is to inform you that at the end of Apple Farm Road (blue and white building) there is now a business named Middletown Medical. This facility is located at the corner of Route 35 and Apple Farm Rd. Middletown Medical is a Methadone Clinic, a treatment center for opiate and heroin dependent people.
The center is run by Pinnacle a company located in Pittsburg, PA. The web site for this facility is www.middletownmedical.net; more information about the services they provide can be seen there.
A town hall meeting is scheduled for Monday, June 20th at 8pm at the Municipal Building at 1 Kings Hwy (same parking lot as the Police Dept.).
If you have concerns that a Methadone clinic is in our community, please plan to attend the Town Hall meeting Monday June 20th, 8:00pm.
Thank you.
35 comments:
Our TC members are too busy publicizing their so-called accomplishments on radio , print and internet blogs to actually do their homework. Nothing bad is ever their fault and everything good is the result of their efforts. And year after year, the people swallow it.
Keep in mind the Methadone clinic is located at the ONLY entrance/exit to the AppleBrook neighbordhood. It is also near the senior center and less than 50ft from a school bus stop. The police have already stepped up patrol and the clinic has been open just afew weeks. The disturbing part is a Methadone clinic can just appear. I would ask everyone attend the Town Hall meeting Monday at 8pm. You don't have to speak at the meeting but numbers will speak just as loud as words!
I spoke to the mayor's assistant who expressed concerned about the methodone clinic but noted that the mayor was not responsible - "He didn't approve the permit" - and helpless to change anything - "The permit was legal and it's not new construction".
There seems to be a pattern in Middletown government: The budget goes up in a major recession when folks are losing their jobs and houses: "It's not my fault and I can't help"; A methadone clinic is approved: "It's not my fault, I can't can't help".
I propose we fire the entire Middletown government and purchase a rubber stamp for $15. We can save the cost of the government and the outcome will be the same.
Jim Immordino
I am disappointed that people are making this political. This is about someone or a group of someones making a decision without doing their homework. We all make mistakes and should have a chance to make amends for the mistake. Everyone I talked to was upset about this so let's all stand together to resolve the clinic situation and not bring politics or any other vendettas into play. I don' t want to lose site of OUR goal. Hopefully we will hear the twp committee's response at the meeting and we can move forward united not divided.
I think the best way to get the town's attention is if we all call the tax office and request a re assessment based on the information in recent blogs where home values in other towns declined once a methadone clinic was opened. Loss of revenue will get their attention .
The Zoning Officer didn't know what she was approving??? My understanding is that the application mentioned: Substance Abuse Treatment, Pharmacology AND Opiates-she thought that meant pharmaceutical sales??? If she didn't understand what those big words meant she is not qualified to be Assistant Dog Catcher let alone Zoning Officer and should be relieved of her duties immediately.
Were it not for Mike's blog, those outside the immediate area would probably remain unnaware of this methadone clinic. It has been open weeks and the Mayor has been on radio and he has his blog on the Patch. Not to mention the township website-not a peep. Now that the cat is out of the bag, you can be sure they will yell loud as if someone did THEM wrong and ride the wave of outrage.
Funny how their response to the citizens not being told about Scharfy's Trenton patronage job was that the info was available online if people wanted to be informed. Well, the same can be said here of the methadone clinic. Have we gotten to the point where the voters of Middletown should be held to a higher bar for staying informed than the politicians and their staff who make the important decisions?
There is a reason the TC is against televising its meetings. Information is power and that is the only thing of interest to the people that run this town. It IS political-lack of transparency and voices of opposition have given us what we have today.
was available on the internet if you bothered to look. Well, exactly the same could be said here- the info was online if they bothered to look. Have we gotten to the point that the politicians are actually held to a lower standard than the voters.
At least someone is happy about the clinic; the company (Pinnacle)
which I think is a for profit company; I wonder just how much money they make from other people's addictions. So now NJ considers dispensing methadone as a "business"......interesting isn't it!
Political: Of, relating to, or dealing with the structure or affairs of government, politics, or the state
I am sick and tired of these liberal, socialists mascerading as republicans. They are destroying the very fabric of our great town. Children live here, seniors live here, and decent, law abiding, God fearing citzens live here! Enough with these "social programs" that only help the people they pay off. We need a clean slate. Vote these drug lovers out!
Does anyone know the quota of how many patients/addicts will be walking through those doors and into our surrounding neighborhood? Does anyone ( township officials) know how many of those patients are sex offenders or felons? Is this the beginning of the end of a safe Middletown? Will it take a serious crime or loss of life/innocence to realize the magnitude of this travesty? The township officials have failed us....
Now that the damage is done what do we do with our lovely zoning officer? She has proved herself to be too incompetent/lazy and has caused irreparable harm to the town. We will not be making any surveys anymore about being one of the safest big towns-Thank you Ms Hanko. Great job!
Before you critize methadone, why not do some homework? Do you know how many kids have opiate addictions in middletown alone?, I can think of a dozen kids off the top of my head that have overdosed on pills because their problems were ignored. The addicts are already all over town and the methadone is probably the best thing next to them over dosing on too many pills. Methadone is just like someone that takes suboxone from a private doctor, or any other medication. Like any other drug when taken as prescribed you don't get high. And a loss of life? how many people are gonna die from overdoses before people start doing things about it. If anyones failed the community its everyone who turns the other way about their kids having problems. I know people who are prescribed methadone and work on Wallstreet, or own their own companies- not even close to sex offenders are crimials. THese people are not trying to get high they are trying to get help. A stable dose of methadone is between 80-120mg and some need it for life-no different then someone who has diabetes others successfully take methadone and are off in 2 years. THe problme isn't prescribing methadone. it's drugs in general and how these people are getting them. Maybe the police should crack down on drug dealers rather then worrying about those who are trying to get treatment.
Camille- The reason for methadone to help an individual function normally after they damaged their body in abusing opiates. Your body produces natural chemicals, Hence "runners high” When one starts taking opiates for lets say a surgical procedure and whether they abuse or get addicted to the pills their body becomes dependent on the opiates and no longer produces the natural chemicals needed. So when one stops taking the opiates they go through a physical withdrawal. In these cases, things like methadone help fill those voids so to speak that way they do not have the physical illness and can function again in a normal life. Methadone is also prescribed to people for pain management. People with cancer or other chronic illness could take methadone to aid in the pain. (It’s not just for “drug addicts”). On a side note, methadone when on the right dose blocks the effects of other synthetic opiates if a person tries to take them. Methadone is and should be used as a last resort of treatment for those who cannot detox alone. I don’t agree that these people opened up a clinic in a neighborhood however the reality of it is, there is crime in Middletown every day long with many opiate addiction people whether you hear about it or not.
This methadone mill would probably be more palatable if the clients were limited to Middletown junkies but it is not. So in addition to our local drug addicts, we are directing addicts who have no ties to Middletown to come pay us a visit for the sole purpose of getting their legal fix. No one who lives in proximity to ground zero for that type of "medical care" can be happy for that honor.
There is also the fact that this clinic is a one trick pony. It apparently caters ONLY to addicts. Perhaps if in addition to giving out flu shots, antibiotics and other care residents need it just happen to also provide methadone to a subgroup that needed it, it could be better tolerated. But the greed of those who run these mills precludes that- and as such, the residents rightfully are outraged.
the person above me is rite im 16, going on 17 a senior in highschool, and an opiate addict, and i live in middletown hell i probably used to do oxcontin with your child! so stop being ignorant , this town needs a methadone clinic,
The ignorance of some of you is amazing. Camille you should be taken out back and shot, there's no hope for you. You are repeating the same old, incorrect wives tales that have been floating around for years. Not all of the terrible junkies are out robbing little old ladies and raping children. Some actually have constructive jobs. Many you couldn't tell are on meth unless they told you. There are idiots that abuse it but many more that don't.
BTW I'm a diabetic and have to take insulin by needle several times a day, should you be watching me also?
Its too bad when someone tries to help themselves and idiots like you put roadblocks in their way.
I could say a lot more but its a waste of time.
Its sad that instead of being concerned with helping people all of you are just worried about the Middletown goverment.
Wait until some of your children start taking rides to Newark or Asbury. You'll have a different view on the clinic then.
I know I'm right kid I am 21 and i go to the Strathmore clinic which really saved my life. But here is the best part for all you ignorant people who think Middletown is some perfect little drug free family neighborhood. I am form Keansburg. The shitty little town next to you guys where everyone thinks you can find the most drugs and the most drug addicts. Well despite our shitty reputation i used to go to middletown to get my dope. I didnt even get hooked on it until I started dating a girl from Middletown! Also, being a junkie in Middletown and Keansburg for two years you get to know alot of other junkies and trust me Middletown definitely has more than Keansburg. Keansburg is only a square mile. Middletown is much bigger and it is filled with drugs crime and violence. Even though Keansburg is more densely populated and is probably matched in crime and violence with Middletown the population is still bigger in middletown so there are more drug addicts there than here. If you live in the shell of your own boring little perfect lives you will never even know these people are around you unless you know where to look and what to look for but theres plenty to be found in Middletown that clinic was a godsend for many people Im giving someone the number to them today and he is a LIFELONG RESIDENT of Middletown and also a junkie most of his life hopefully this will save him.
Thank you so much. I was beginning to.think there was no one with a brain on these comments. The only other local clinic is in Neptune and guess what there are tons of diverse people there little old ladys and old men there is no discrimination there and you would never know.what it was unless you went in because its a parkinglot and the sign says is health care. Oh big deal. Its not like it says junkies welcome get addicted to the new thing. The only way to od on method is if you take way too much and their new fix is a lot better than the drugs since methadone you can actually seen off of perfectly with no pain. It amazes me to see the ignorance in this world. Did you know back in the world wars the men who served our country took drugs to stay fighting and the government promoted it and we stood.by our men if service but in order to get better we can't stand by our fellow.neighbors? Its funny bc if you saw me you'd never know.I belong to a clinic.
I loved your comment.kid 21 from keansbirg. I currently go to the Neptune clinic. Hoping it goes well.
Wow you guys are pathetic. The place will oy have gruffly 200 clients and they are in and out. Its not like they are moving in. And lets be truthful now middletown you have a lot of places that have real drug dealers in your town so why don't you do something about that stop blaming everything on 1 clinic that opened up. These people are trying to get cleaned and I have to be at work and there's only certain time so they can go there to get medicated so it's not like they're gonna wait around in your town all day and night so get over yourself you are pathetic bunch of people so just cut it out with placing blame find people that haven't even been there that long.
Kid is right I use to score all my dope from middletown as well and I know a lot of people from there you guys are so ignorant. It's just pathetic that you guys put your needs above everyone else is there's not a lot of these clinics in new jersey and most people that are trying to get clean don't have cars search very hard for them to get there I myself have to travel 35 miles to the closest methadone clinic when traveling to go get help from middletown was so much closer but I go out of my way to make myself better and now it's like you have to turn this into a pissing match
I think its disgusting how ignorant people really are on here, a methadone clinic is to.help people clean up their lives from a drug addiction. not all these people are junkies with needles hanging out their arms, these are friends, children, spouses, human beings with real jobs that just want to get better. the cops should patrol where it matters and leave this place alone, if your a heroin addict your not going to go get high off methadone your gonna go get heroin!! So do your damn homework before you judge and jump to conclusions about what this clinic is really there for, because if this was your child and he decides to to.use this service I would hope that you would support him instead of judging
LOL Middletown???? Living in north jersey do you know how many of your "good" neighbors troll around my neighborhood looking for drugs?
Do you know how many of your kids come to parties and they have more stuff in them (and for sale) than the people up here? Oxys, Roxys.... percs, whatever. You little biddies complaining about this should take a look at your OWN KIDS, they are the junkies putting all YOUR money onto the streets!
And how many of you good suburban moms visit your pain management clinics and your psychiatrists?
God hates hypocrits, and ugly hateful people.
And SEX OFFENDERS? LOL what a miserable person you are Camille.
Diane, all of you, take a look in your own medicine cabinet and the teens loafing in your living room.
YOU people are everything wrong with the world. Nasty, judgemental, uninformed, and BLIND to what your precious little babies are doing right in your own home.
I am 26yrs old turning 27 in a few months and let me tell you something I could have died at the rate i was going addicted to opiates and thats my fault..but I chose to remove myself from work took a leave of absence went to rehab and if it wasnt for this clinic i wouldnt be working in a health care facility for the elderly and making a difference in their lives..My job is grateful and applauds me for doing what i did and i became a better person for it..i take my doses of suboxen daily as prescribed and every week i am gradually knocked down in dosages and am almost off it completley..yes some abuse and take to get a high but like most of us we are just trying to get back on our feet and return to a normal healthy lifestyle and we deserve to..everyone deserves to fiz their mistakes..does not mean i am a sex offender or out robbing people..i go to the clinic and from there straight to work where i give care,feed,bath,and love my patients because i have a great huge heart..so stop being closed minded and think about that for a minute..your family member or loved on might be in the care of someone who attends this clinic and you wouldnt even know it..why? because the soul purposr of methadone and suboxen is to help addicts get through and over the addiction..i will always be an addict but because of this clinic i am now 7months clean and sober and damn proud of it and grateful for the help offered to me
I am 26yrs old turning 27 in a few months and let me tell you something I could have died at the rate i was going addicted to opiates and thats my fault..but I chose to remove myself from work took a leave of absence went to rehab and if it wasnt for this clinic i wouldnt be working in a health care facility for the elderly and making a difference in their lives..My job is grateful and applauds me for doing what i did and i became a better person for it..i take my doses of suboxen daily as prescribed and every week i am gradually knocked down in dosages and am almost off it completley..yes some abuse and take to get a high but like most of us we are just trying to get back on our feet and return to a normal healthy lifestyle and we deserve to..everyone deserves to fiz their mistakes..does not mean i am a sex offender or out robbing people..i go to the clinic and from there straight to work where i give care,feed,bath,and love my patients because i have a great huge heart..so stop being closed minded and think about that for a minute..your family member or loved on might be in the care of someone who attends this clinic and you wouldnt even know it..why? because the soul purposr of methadone and suboxen is to help addicts get through and over the addiction..i will always be an addict but because of this clinic i am now 7months clean and sober and damn proud of it and grateful for the help offered to me
wow I was just reading this and it outrages me to see how uninformed all u apple farm road and surrounding area retards are! This clinic is to help people there will not be robberies in the area crime will not increase, if anything it will decrease! if someone in ur family needed help maybe ur opinion would be different! So when a person makes a mistake they should be cast out of society our dirty little secret. The same assholes who have a problem with this sit there and drink 2 bottles of wine or a case of beer and like to point the fingers at others. Maybe you should do a little research before u go to ur town meeting all up in arms! If you feel differently then may your sons and daughters get hooked on junk then maybe when its ur nightmare you wont be so judgemental! Another thing Middletown mike maybe you should shoot a lil junk to knock some of that weight off you fat disgusting excuse for a man.
How easily we look down our noses at the flaws of others. Many drug addicted people are self-medicating, due to the lack of a proper diagnosis or a caring physician. Still others simply start young and spiral downward in their youthful ignorance. I myself fell into all of these categories. I became hooked on heroin, in Middletown, as did, and continue to, many, many of our fellow residents. I was raised in a stable household, my parents are were teachers and I was an excellent student and a standout athlete. In my late teens I went to prison for the first time. I went again not long after my parole ended following my first sentence. I committed many of my drug-fueled crimes right there in Middletown. I got on Methadone in 2006 and have been drug free ever since. I own my own successful business, have healthy relationships, and people around me and in my community respect me and rely on me. I'm still on methadone today. I only go 2 x a month because of my good record, but when I go its in and out. The people that are there are not there to hang out. They aren't thinking how cool it is to be at the clinic. Its sonething they have to do, and its making them less dangerous, less likely to commit a crime, etc. That clinic is making that neighborhood safer. So next time you're overeating, compulsively shopping, lookibg lustfully at underage girls, or playing $100 worth of scratch-offs, ask yourself how stable YOU are.
I love uneducated rubes complaining about a methadone clinic being built in their neighborhood but then cry the sobbing blues about their heroin addicted family members not being productive members of society. I would bet 90% of the people commenting here have a family member on heroin and know or just don't know about it yet.
if any of these 40-60 year old no nothing's who have never took more then five seconds to understand how government or even the world works They would realize this obscure building reduces drug use and crime by its very existence.If you understood anything about economics,government or law enforcement you would realize that the people from your community are doing drugs in record breaking numbers and this is a solution to the problem.
as usual we have the mental disconnect of middletown residents who want to have no societal ills and contribute nothing to the solutions.
if you want to have a functioning society reduce the number of police officers,clean house of rampant local corruption,invest in treatment programs stop over policing law biding citizens drug use is a lifestyle choice nothing more prosecute criminals. If someone does drugs so what, its their right in a free society and as studies show most drug use is recreational even with hard drugs and a majority of drug users are law biding citizens;and only by criminalizing their existence itself can you get to a majority percentage of having a criminal record.
want to solve the heroin problem of your town? don't be moron and educate yourself on the proper policies and remember that your not above anyone some of the best minds on earth belonged to junkies.
have police carry narcan allow more drug treatment facilities to be accessible, stop spending on m-wraps,drones and weapons of war for your already bloated police department and invest it into drug education and treatment its much more effective at reducing crime.
and while we are at it invest in body cameras for the police department body cameras are a dirt cheap expense when done correctly and with how wealthy and clean of a town we want to be its only right we should be ahead of the standard town in america.
and educate yourself on the benefits of full drug legalization and decriminalization. the drug war is a failed racist and anti poor policy that has done nothing but turn american law enforcement to a oppressive occupational paramilitary force spend untold fortunes which could have covered the cost of universal college and universal healthcare when factored along with the current expenditures on related programs.
you could waste money fighting drugs and freedom or you can save money while having healthcare and a education for you and your children, That is the reality of the american drug policy it is a blemish on the history of this nation and needs to be taken to the woodshed.
All you ignorant people complaining about a methadone clinic. You should want more methadone clinics and more substance abuse treatment centers opened worldwide. God forbid any of your children or family members ever fall victim to substance abuse. It amazes me how cold all of you are!!! Ignorance at its finest! I find it ironic how most of you are mad a woman for being ignorant to the fact of what the clinic actually was when ALL of you are ignorant of what a methadone clinic actually entails. Let me ask you all, where should a methadone clinic be? Should it be in a rotten down neighborhood where there are drugs of all sorts on every corner? So that the people in treatment can be triggered by drugs and tempted? Or in a nice neighborhood where people in treatment could go get their doses comfortably and not have to be reminded of their past? I swear, you all are some cold hearted folks. & I guarantee you that you all think that all recovering addicts are horrible disgusting people who you don't want roaming your neighborhoods?NEW FLASSSSHHH!!!! They are already in your neighborhoods. It's THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD TOO!!! They live in these neighborhoods!!! It's FACT!!! I see teachers, doctors, nurses, POLICE OFFICERS, ALL come in and out of the clinics for their doses. So enough with sticking your noses in the air before a bug flies up your nasal passageway! #ignoranceisbliss
All you ignorant people complaining about a methadone clinic. You should want more methadone clinics and more substance abuse treatment centers opened worldwide. God forbid any of your children or family members ever fall victim to substance abuse. It amazes me how cold all of you are!!! Ignorance at its finest! I find it ironic how most of you are mad a woman for being ignorant to the fact of what the clinic actually was when ALL of you are ignorant of what a methadone clinic actually entails. Let me ask you all, where should a methadone clinic be? Should it be in a rotten down neighborhood where there are drugs of all sorts on every corner? So that the people in treatment can be triggered by drugs and tempted? Or in a nice neighborhood where people in treatment could go get their doses comfortably and not have to be reminded of their past? I swear, you all are some cold hearted folks. & I guarantee you that you all think that all recovering addicts are horrible disgusting people who you don't want roaming your neighborhoods?NEW FLASSSSHHH!!!! They are already in your neighborhoods. It's THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD TOO!!! They live in these neighborhoods!!! It's FACT!!! I see teachers, doctors, nurses, POLICE OFFICERS, ALL come in and out of the clinics for their doses. So enough with sticking your noses in the air before a bug flies up your nasal passageway! #ignoranceisbliss
How well did your numbers speak? Maybe if there weren’t so many heroin addicted people in Middletown trust me it’s an epidemic. We wouldn’t need a clinic here . Remember rich bored kids equals heroin use .
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