KNOWLEDGE POWERFUL WEAPON

Kudos to members of East Side Pride for continuing their efforts as
citizens for fighting drug use and production.

The latest effort from the group is a drug awareness campaign called
C.R.A.C.K. - Citizens Raising Awareness in Chatham-Kent.

Too often kids hear little more than "Don't do drugs," little better
than Mr. Mackay's useless guidance on the cartoon South Park: "Drugs
are bad, M'kay?"

East Side Pride's campaign goes so much further than that. It has a
variety of pamphlets on both usage and drug creation, be it cooking or
growing.

This literature isn't really directed at children, but rather at their
parents and other adults.

It helps parents protect their children from exposure to drug use, aid
both the kids and parents in spotting drug paraphernalia, and in
determining if someone may be on drugs.

Big issues in this area are marijuana grow houses and methamphetamine
cooking labs. The labs use harmful chemicals and the cooking
operations can explode. The grow houses become mould hell-holes with
unsafe electrical wiring.

The pamphlets help neighbours and especially landlords keep an eye out
for potential grow ops and cookers.

And if people spot a suspected drug operation, they should never think
they are ratting out a neighbour, but are instead looking out for the
safety of the rest of the neighbourhood.

Forewarned is forearmed. And in this case, the armament is a
telephone. If anyone suspects there is a grow op or meth cooker in
their neighbourhood, they should call police.

For parents, don't sugar-coat drug use, or dance around the topic.
Your children will most certainly be exposed to drugs. Whether or not
they partake can depend largely on how you educate them.

Thanks to East Side Pride, you can give them the facts on drugs.