This Easter Camden Youth hunt for tougher Drug Laws not chocolate Bunnies.

 "Do you know how it feels to be a kid and to think that drugs are more important to your dad then you are? I do" This is just one of the shocking sentiments shared in over 234 letters that have been sent to Assemblyman Angel Fuentes, State Senator Donald Norcross, and NJ Governor Chris Christie, as part of a letter writing campaign to encourage New Jersey law makers to make the needed revisions to the Drug Offense Restraining Order Act of 1999.

 Following an influential community meeting with Assemblyman Fuentes, Assemblyman Wilson and State Senator Norcross, St. Joseph's/CCOP learned that the Proposed Bill A-2416 needed to be revised and reworked. The rationale behind the revisions is to ensure that the new legislation does not just sound good on paper but will actually enable New Jersey Police Departments to use the Drug Offense Restraining Order, DORO.

 Fearing that this legislative hurdle will slow down the process St. Joseph's/CCOP leaders decided to keep the pressure on by sharing the deeply personal and upsetting stories from youth and adults from their church community.  "This has confirmed not only how resilient Camden teenagers are, but how much we owe it to them to fight to give them more than a ride home from a church event," commented Kristin Prinn CCOP Leader and Youth Director at St. Joseph's Pro-Cathedral.

 In reading these letters one can see the full picture of the drug epidemic. From one elementary age child in East Camden who writes, "I'm tired of hearing of the people getting killed," to the suburban family outside of Camden who write "For 15 years we lived a life of hell. These letters are giving us an inside look of the damnable world of drug addiction."