OUR VIEW

Illegal drugs are a part of today's society, and even in rural South
Dakota, the stories of their use and sale are becoming all too
common. Night after night on network affiliates, reporters stand
before cameras telling stories of drug deals gone bad, of young
people using drugs in basements of their parents' homes, or of
methamphetamine labs uncovered in some small town.

In South Dakota? We wouldn't have thought it possible a generation a go.

The latest drug story to be told has a Mitchell dateline, and who, if
anyone, is found guilty obviously remains to be seen. There is a
constitutional presumption of innocence in this state and nation -
and at the same time law enforcement officers are compelled to have
just cause to make arrests.

That's where judges and juries come into the picture.

Police locally made a series of arrests over the weekend and Monday
and said they cracked what was a major illegal drug distribution ring
operating out of a Mitchell business.

The investigation has been going on for years, we're told, and
Mitchell PD spokesman Lyndon Overweg said that "we want to make the
point that we're not going to tolerate drug use and distribution in
our communities."

There aren't many good citizens who would quarrel with Overweg's
statement. However, we caution our community against too much
speculation at this point. The arrests have been made. Now let's see
how the state's case unfolds against the defendants.

As the details present themselves in pretrial motions and perhaps in
one or more courtroom trials, the public will be able to ascertain
for itself the scope and importance of this particular drug case.

From this vantage point, we know drugs are hurtling down I-90 on a
daily basis. It may even be hourly, for all we know. Yet we've not
reached the point of total desensitization on this front. We still
hate to see headlines about illegal drugs in our community.