TACKLING THE THORNY ISSUE OF ILLEGAL DRUG SALES IN THEIR NEIGHBOURHOOD

Our hats are off to the local RCMP and to the residents of Harbour Key Drive.

Residents on that street banded together, and then worked hand in hand with
RCMP to tackle the thorny issue of a drug house in their neighbourhood.

While judging the success of this latest move may be hard to do, its true
success is simply in the action that was taken.

Instead of just standing by and allowing the blatent selling of drugs in
their neighbourhood, this group of people had the fortitude to stand up
against it. It is not only admirable, it is courageous.

The harsh reality is that with the amount of money involved in illegal
drugs, it is not surprising that it is so prevelant. Most of us feel
helpless to what seems to be an onslaught of drug-related violence in our
small communities.

That feeling of helplessness leads to an apathy which ultimately only leads
to an ever increasing problem.

A weak court system has added to our frustrations and caused a basic
inability for police, by itself, to deal with the issues surrounding
illegal drugs.

But what this group of people has shown through their actions is that they
are not prepared to accept the status quo. And that should be how their
success is judged.

Hopefully their actions will cause another neighbourhood to do the same
thing. And so on from there. After all these are our neighbourhoods where
we live and raise our children. We have a right to be free of this type of
activity.

But what is abundantly clear here is that unless we are prepared to take
action, very little will be done, and that is why this latest move by these
residents is so important.