COMMUNITY MUST TAKE ACTIVE ROLE IN FIGHT AGAINST DRUGS

To protect your community from drugs, look into your children's eyes.

Reversing the scourge of drugs and crime that afflicts some neighborhoods of
Huntington requires that we shut off the demand. That 100 people showed up
on a weeknight this past Thursday to learn how to recognize the signs of
drug use and how to avoid it in the first place shows a renewed interest in
ridding the city of this long-standing problem.

The concern was brought to a head by the May 22 shooting of four teenagers
in front of a house along Charleston Avenue, but the problem existed long
before that.

The meeting at the A.D. Lewis Community Center focused on recognizing the
signs of drug use and drug dealing. Brandi Jacobs-Jones, the Huntington City
Council member who helped organize the meeting and emceed it, said at the
beginning that it was not a gripe session about what goes on at City Hall.
Instead, it was to be a meeting where people could learn their roles in
reducing and eliminating drug problems in their families.

Eight panel members talked about the warning signs of drug use: bloodshot
eyes, a new set of friends, a sudden lack of money, petty thefts around the
home, a sudden lack of interest in school work and embracing a new style of
music among them.

Lt. Hank Dial of the Huntington Police Department gave some warning signs
that a neighbor might be dealing drugs: a lot of people in and out of a
house; a number of out-of-state vehicles visiting; people with expensive
items and no apparent means of buying them; loiterers out front; aggressive
dogs; an increase in thefts; prostitutes working street corners in
high-visibility areas.

Police Lt. Mike Davis warned people that they should not confront neighbors
they suspect are drug dealers. That job is best left to law enforcement, he
said. Confront your child, but not the dealer, they said.

A recurring message from Thursday night was that drug dealers have no
reluctance to get middle school-aged children hooked on crack and other
illegal substances. Preventing this requires an investment of time and
attention by adults. Not just parents, but the extended neighborhood family.

The key word here may be "connect." Parents must connect with their
children, and neighbor must connect with neighbor.

Thursday's meeting was only the beginning. A two-hour program on gang-type
activity and drug dealing will be offered in the Huntington City Hall
auditorium at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. This effort must continue, even if it
reaches only 100 people at a time.

The police can't drive Detroit crack dealers out of town by themselves. As
long as the demand is here, the dealers will do their best to supply it.
Information from meetings such as this can only help reduce that demand if
people spread the word of how to help family or friends who may succumb to
crack's temptations.