LET'S SOLVE IT TOGETHER

There are good and bad repercussions of our boom in Alberta and one of the
bad ones is the surplus of drugs hitting our streets.

It has gotten to a point where our RCMP force is not able to keep it all in
line.

In fact, Const. Sorensen told the Star this week that 90 per cent of their
files were drug and alcohol related and they were having a problem keeping
drugs off the streets.

She said that dealers and other criminals find the economic situation here
attractive and that these elements will always follow the money.

As with every bad situation, the best solution is to turn it around and
transform it into a positive opportunity.

We should take the initiative to come together as a town and create a
drug-aware community, which will help us elminate the harmful effects of
the problem.

Sorensen said that the best way to deal with the situation was to educate
people.

The more knowledge we have about the drug situation the easier it will be
to insulate our community against the problem.

To help accomplish this RCMP have begun training workshops for parents to
help them identify warning signs that their kids may be using drugs.

The courses will also help parents be a better example to their kids and to
teach our youth healthy lifestyle choices.

But the problem is not for parents or cops to handle alone.

It is a community problem.

Teacher's, counsellers, youth workers, our elected representatives and many
others must also be proactive in the fight against drugs.

Indeed, each of us has a part to play in eliminating drugs from our streets.

The less attractive our town is to dealers the more attractive our streets
will be to those of us who live here.

And the first steps to solving a problem are admitting we have one and that
we need to do something about it.