WORKING TOGETHER TO COMBAT DRUG USE

Jasper Booster -- Quite recently Booster readers may have read a
piece entitled 'Drug trends scary' in this space. Because we believe
the effect of drugs in this community is an important issue, this
week's editorial deals with a similar theme. But this time the focus
is more on the solutions and not so much on the symptoms.

It's clear this is an issue that is causing ever increasing concern
locally, but the good news about that is the more people who aware of
the problems and worried about them, the better equipped we'll be to
deal with them as time goes on.

In our interview with longtime police officer and drug education
speaker Steve Walton (see story on Page 1), the most important thing
he talked about was the impact a cohesive community can have on drug
criminals. His analysis of that side of the issue makes perfect sense.

It's only natural that people who sell drugs and make drugs are going
to be comfortable doing their business in a place where the average
person could care less abut their activities. If a drug criminal
knows he's trying to make money in a town whose attention is closely
focused on the issue of drug use and committed to working together to
find solutions it makes life harder for them.

We need Jasper to be the kind of community that cares -- so what more
can we do that isn't being done? A local committee or community
action group with a specific focus on drugs could do considerable good here.

Hopefully law enforcement and social services would both be involved
in some way and the group's job would be to update interested
community members on local drug trends. More importantly, the group
would work towards solutions to problems caused by drug use.

Drug education is one that is mentioned a great deal especially
because the age of first time drug users is going down. The DARE
program (which has both its proponents and critics) seems to be one
of the few consistently applied drug education initiatives for youth
in our schools. There are occasional talks booked for kids of other
ages but consistent and ongoing drug education is lacking. Drug
education needs to begin earlier and followed through consistently
until the late teens.

Aside from drug education, there are others things that can be done.
How about some form of community watch and business cooperation? It
doesn't seem to be a secret that drug dealers often do their work in
public, from the bar to the skate park. More watchful eyes reporting
suspicious behaviour couldn't hurt.

More people could easily sit down and brainstorm many more ideas and
that's the key point. The entire community has to be involved --
there must be partnerships made among local policy makers, law
enforcement, parents social services and healthcare professionals,
business owners, educators and, just as importantly, average citizens
who share a concern for the issue.

It may sound cliche, but it's only when people work together that
things get done more easily.