Politics & Government

Wilmington Eyes Coalition to Combat Increased Drug Concerns

Health Director Shelly Newhouse is in the initial stages of forming the drug coalition.

Editor’s Note: The following is Part Two in Wilmington Patch’s five part series on drug use in Wilmington. In Part One on Monday we provided a look at how much of an issue town officials and police believe drugs are in town. Check back throughout the week for more stories, and to find all five stories in one place, you can visit the topic page for our drug series.

Town officials and police have identified drug use as one of the problems facing Wilmington residents. Now they’ve found what they hope to be a solution to that problem.

Director of Public Health Shelly Newhouse is leading the charge in forming a local drug coalition that would bring together representatives from the school system, Wilmington Police Department, local government and community at large in an effort to fight what has become a growing concerning in town.

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“I hope that with the coalition, we can give parents a good resource,” said Newhouse. “You can have an organization with hundreds of people involved that can go nowhere. What I want to do is get the right people involved to see if we can make a difference.”

Newhouse is still in the early stages of planning, but she hopes to apply for a grant in January that would allow her to use federal funds that are allocated for communities to change strategies in an effort to reduce substance abuse. 

Find out what's happening in Wilmingtonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Superintendent of Schools Joanne Benton said she is meeting with Newhouse, Wilmington High School, route: {:controller=>"listings", :action=>"show", :id=>"wilmington-high-school"} --> principal Eric Tracy and


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