HEROIN HEADACHE

Increase In Heroin Arrests A Troubling Sign Of The Times

As if law enforcement officers didn't have enough serious issues to deal
with, recent evidence in the Brainerd area shows signs that heroin might be
making a comeback.

Four arrests for heroin possession were made in the past month in Brainerd.
That's unusual, according to Brainerd Police Chief John Bolduc, who said he
hadn't seen the illegal drug in 10 years. The Brainerd Police Department
has designated one of its officers to be a drug investigator. That's a wise
move considering the sizable influx of people in the Brainerd area in the
summer time and the expected disbanding of the Net VI Drug Task Force at
the end of 2001.

Heroin is extremely addictive and is often linked with a rise in crime when
addicts break the law in order to support their habit. It also can hasten
the spreading of the AIDS virus if addicts share needles.

Despite all of the anti-drug education efforts young people seem to be
particularly vulnerable to the lure of dangerous drugs such as heroin. The
National Household Survey on Drug Abuse reported that nearly 80 percent of
the new heroin users in 1998 were younger than 26. Significant rises in
heroin use were seen in the eighth, tenth and twelfth grades in the 1990s.

This unfortunate news about the reappearance of heroin comes as outstate
cities are already pressed in their efforts to bust up the ever-increasing
number of methamphetamine labs which are sprouting up.

Gone are the days when small town law officers could expect to spend their
time merely issuing parking tickets are locking up the occasional drunk. If
small cities stick their heads in the sand and ignore illegal drug traffic
the problem will only get worse.

It's great to be the center of population growth but more people are often
accompanied by urban-like headaches such as drug use and crime. Brainerd
and surrounding communities had better be ready to fight those problems
vigorously.