CRYSTAL METH THREATENS OUR SAFETY

With just three months left in my term as mayor, I thought I should
share with the community over the next few weeks some issues that I
believe need to be resolved by future elected councils.

The key to our social and economic success is hinged on keeping Salmon
Arm a safe place for our citizens to live. People will move here and
invest here if they feel Salmon Arm is a community of values.

I believe, as a community, we need to be more supportive of the RCMP
and we need to be more aggressive in making Salmon Arm drug free.
Vandalism, domestic violence, and most criminal activity are
propagated by the drug culture. If we do not insist on adequate laws,
sentences and enforcement resources, we will end up living in fear as
do many citizens in larger communities in B.C.

The costs are increasing - cost of enforcement, damage caused by
vandalism, car insurance and home insurance; but the greater cost is
the individual who is not contributing to the well-being of our community.

The costs related to taking care of the casualties of crystal meth are
going to be immense in the future. These addicts who fry their brains
and become dependent on the state to care for them will just put
another strain on the taxpayers.

We need, as citizens, to reach out to these addicts and help with
compassion and concern for their well being. If the addict does not
want to change, then we need to cut off the supply of drugs and deal
with the criminal activity that feeds this habit.

We need to be serious and address this issue on a local level;
government is not going to solve all our problems in life. We, as
citizens, led by our council, need to act now to ensure Salmon Arm is
a safe place to live now and in the future.

The City of Maple Ridge formed a crystal meth task force. Their Web
site is www.crystalmethtaskforce.com.

Mayor Colin Mayes