DRUG ADDICTS SHOULD BE TREATED LIKE PEOPLE

I'm not a Warren County native, but I grew up in this area and will always
consider it home. Growing up there in the '70s was the best time of my
life, endless summer days of plundering through the woods and to the river,
breathing fresh country air, going to the fair in late summer and meeting
my now husband, Kerry, there in high school. I often ask myself "Do Warren
countians really know or appreciate what they have here?" The Midway
community and what they do for the children there is wonderful. I can't
praise those folks enough. They set an example that others should follow.

I said all of that to say this: I read the Southern Standard and worry
about the drug/crime problems Warren County is experiencing. It's like a
wildfire out of control and just as devastating.

People need to get involved in helping this community overcome this all too
common problem.

It's not for the government officials to fix. They remind me of two sailors
on a ship trying to plug one hole with 10 more coming and no end in sight!
Oh, I think they could do a better job.

For instance control some of these chemicals needed to manufacture meth
like they did back in the day of the moonshiners controlling sugar. Nope,
it didn't stop the process but it slowed it down and come on now we don't
have to make it easy for them either. Apparently some things needed to
manufacture meth are needed it ridiculous quantities. Hello!

I have seen drug addiction first-hand and up close, a brother and a sister,
it's the most heart-wrenching thing to see, to open your eyes to. To see my
mother hold her daughter, my sister, and help her through withdrawals is a
sight that makes you feel like your heart has been crushed then stolen. My
sister has been "clean" for eight or nine years. Sadly, I can't say the
same for the brother ... only jail keeps him from using.

We have got to educate our children at home, explain using drugs once can
"hook" you, let them see what happens to people who are hooked, take them
to the courthouse and sit with them through a day of hearings for these
addicts and let them tour the jail.

It's no guarantee, but it will have an impact. If you know of someone
else's child using, do the right thing. Every user is known by someone to
be a user ... keeping silent does the addict an injustice.

And remember this, most addicts didn't start out being addicts. Most
weren't thieves to start. They didn't start out to hurt anyone, although
for every drug addict/alcoholic there are at least scores of others
affected by their addiction, but it was not their intention to be addicts
in the beginning.

"Why?" is a question I ask myself most often but, "What can I do to help?"
should be what we all ask ourselves. I'm not an addict sympathizer - I hate
drugs. But each person began as an innocent little soul, a soul God created
and we're all worthy.

Felicia Hathcock TAMACE63@aol.com Auburn Hills, Mich.