AREA MUST BAND TOGETHER TO FIGHT INFLUX OF DRUGS

The crack cocaine trade can be brutal. As Huntington has learned in
the past 24 months, people can die over small amounts of money or in
territorial disputes.

This makes the crack epidemic far more deadly than the problems with
metham-phetamine and OxyContin that Appalachia also must deal with.

As detailed in a story in The Herald-Dispatch on Sunday by reporter
Bryan Chambers, the crack supply network is a sophisticated one. There
is no one chain that can be severed by cutting a single link.

But the simple truth is that the crack cocaine trade exists because
there are customers. As long as people are willing to drive into
Huntington to buy drugs, dealers will be around to sell them. If we
arrest and convict one dealer, there's always another to take his or
her place.

The long-term answer is to eliminate the demand or at least reduce it
to the point it is no longer profitable.

As part of the answer, a community forum on Thursday, June 23, in
Huntington will help people identify when their friends or family
members are involved with drugs. Other questions will be answered,
such as how people can tell if their family members might be involved
with crime, or how they can recognize possible criminal activity in
their neighborhoods.

The forum begins at 6:30 p.m. at the A.D. Lewis Community Center, 1450
A.D. Lewis Ave. in Huntington. It is sponsored by the Fairfield West
Improvement Council, the city of Huntington, The Herald-Dispatch and
WSAZ-TV NewsChannel 3.

Given the events of the past year, it should answer questions that
everyone should be asking.