THE DANGER TO US ALL OF ILLICIT DRUGS

Last week's break-up of a marijuana farming operation deep in woods on
the outskirts of Stantonsburg was merely interesting to most area
residents, but they should have been alarmed by it. It could be a
matter of life and death.

Stantonsburg police and Wilson County Sheriff's Office personnel
closed down the operation after it was discovered by some hunters. The
marijuana was being grown and dried in a clearing inside a wooded area
reachable only by pathways carved through undergrowth.

The secluded area was perfect for the illicit crop.

Officers estimate the confiscated marijuana had a street value of a
million dollars. Several other fields of the plant already had been
harvested.

No arrests have been made.

The fight against illicit drug use is never ending, as is true of
every other type of criminality. However, drug trafficking is more
evil than most crimes because abuse of drugs creates so many victims
and causes society so much grief.

So we applaud the efforts of local law enforcement agencies to
interdict the supply of pot, cocaine, heroine and the many
derivatives. Rescuing the weaker members of society from themselves
and their drug habits is a noble, if frustrating, work.

The more immediate issue, however, is the danger such operations hold
for non-users of drugs.

The hidden marijuana farm was uncovered when, apparently, a hunter
tiptoed up one of the manmade pathways. Instead of finding game to
shoot, he came upon the farm. He presumably recognized the pot-growing
operation for what it was, skedaddled without being observed and
subsequently reported it to authorities.

But what if he had stepped out into the clearing to be greeted by the
growers themselves? What if the growers had been armed? Would a
shootout have occurred? If the growers had gotten the drop on the
hunter, would they have killed him to protect their
multi-million-dollar operation? That seems likely.

One of the dangers of today's drug trafficking is that innocent people
can find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time with fatal
consequences. A picnic in the wrong pasture. A stroll along the wrong
street. The innocent opening of the wrong door, or overhearing of the
wrong conversation.

In these ways, illicit drugs can kill non-users of drugs. For our own
safety, we should support law enforcement officials as they work to
thin the drug traffic.