This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Community Corner

Ocean County Prosecutor Debuts Interactive Video To Educate Teens About Drug Dangers


Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato today released the first in a series of interactive videos aimed at educating high school and middle school students to the dangers of drugs.

The video entitled “Right Turns” was produced at the direction of the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office by Tufano Communications LLC. It was paid for with drug forfeiture monies seized from those arrested seeking to profit from the illegal sale of narcotics.

“Holding dealers and health care professionals accountable through tough enforcement measures is not enough to address our county’s drug crisis," Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato said.

Since Coronato took over in April 2013, he has pushed for tougher drug statute legislation; trained local police officers to utilize Narcan to save overdose victims; instituted dog searches at schools, prescription drug drop off programs, awareness forums, and prescription disposal cards for funeral directors; adopted extensive intelligence and statistic gathering programs to drill down on all aspects of the problem.

"We must continue to be proactive in every possible way," he said. " Our next push is to reach young adults before they tragically become victims of drug abuse. These videos are the perfect vehicle to capture their attention, raise awareness, educate and hopefully prevent the tragedy of future addictions.”

The completed first film is featured on the Ocean County Prosecutor’s web site at www.oceancountyprosecutor.org and will be shown at high schools and middle schools across Ocean County.

It aims to interactively demonstrate that teens and young adults have a choice when it comes to their involvement with drugs. Through a series of short vignettes student viewers are asked, at a critical moment in the film, to make a choice. They are then shown the outcome and the ultimate impact that their choice could have on their life.

Members of the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, Point Pleasant Police Officers, Point Boro First Aid Squad members, Point Pleasant Board of Education members and thirty eight students were involved in the project. Dramatic Arts Teacher Rebecca Muraglia of Point Pleasant High School solicited student involvement, auditioned and selected the student actors.

The footage was shot over a two-day period at Point Pleasant High School, the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, Pable-Evertz Funeral Home and the home of Ms. Muraglia.

 The film includes a special guest appearance by Richie Sambora, who generously gave his time to tape the film’s introduction, as well as, writing and preforming the film’s opening music.

The Juvenile Justice Division of the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office is presently deciding the next public safety topic in the video series and the school that will provide the film actors.



THE CAST

Point Pleasant Boro High School Students:

Characters

Ceclia Zitarosa
Emme Mroszko
Isabella Esposito
Jessica Arevalo
George Jason
Dakota Karass
Mark Schreefer
Kevin Jasaitis

Others

Colin Ansbach
Emily Brown
Shae Conboy
Kacia Dolci
Rebecca Domas
Travis Dunham
Sherly Escobar
Lauren Fellows
Miranda Gale
Keelin Grindall
Maureen Hallidy
Kyle Jasaitis
Rachel Jasaitis
Tori Lohnes
Cassie Millet
Samantha Moniello
Maggie McKeon
Jamie Morris
Jack Muraglia
Jordan Muraglia
Sam Muraglia
Jamie Noon
Travis Pulitano
Emily Pilat
Angelo Petillo
Sedanur Ozer
Laura Regec
Alyssa Siegiert
Andrew Svenson
Emma Wheiler
Tricia Yiannnoulou

Point Pleasant Police Department: Det. Brad McNally, Patrolman Jesse Waterson.

Point Boro First Aid Squad: Nick Ciccone, Cindy Popiel, Pete Beringer, Janet Schlapfer.

Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office: Agent Michael Colwell, Det. Mitch Remig.

Point Pleasant Boro Board of Education: Board member Susan Ward and her husband Bob.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?