INVESTMENT IN SAFE, TASK FORCE WELL WORTH IT

Talladega County's jail is brimming to overflow. Court dockets are packed
to capacity.

Their common cause? Illegal drugs.

Whether it is possession or sale of a controlled substance or burglary or
robbery to get money to buy drugs, it all points back to a problem that is
spiraling out of control.

For the past few months, representatives of the Talladega County Drug Task
Force have been soliciting funds to keep their law enforcement program
going to attack the problem on the criminal side. Its effort is viewed as a
way to fight the elusive war on drugs through a multi-agency law
enforcement program, helping get illegal drugs off the streets. And local
governments and businesses across the county are stepping forward to invest.

Now, SAFE, Sylacauga Alliance for Family Enhancement, has secured a
$250,000 grant to fight the drug war at the other end - among our children
before the problem escalates to a crime.

The grant was awarded to SAFE's coalition of Prevention Partners, including
Sylacauga City and Talladega County schools, law enforcement and others
with a vested interest in seeing successful prevention measures in place to
aid in the fight.

The project will be implemented in B.B. Comer Memorial School,
Nichols-Lawson Middle School, Indian Valley Elementary and Pinecrest
Elementary.

Gov. Bob Riley called it "powerful ammunition" in the fight to keep drugs
and alcohol out of the lives of children. We call it a more effective way
to reverse troubling numbers that just seem to grow on a daily basis.

With a combination of law enforcement strategies through the county's drug
task force and SAFE's approach to prevent young lives from taking the wrong
turn, there is a fighting chance for Talladega County to turn its drug
problems around.