THESE VICTORIES KEEP DRUGS OFF STREETS

News of the last few days provides ample reason for why Piedmont Triad law
enforcement agencies must continually be on the alert for evidence of
illegal drug activity - there's plenty of it here.

Early last week, authorities in the Randolph County Sheriff's Office
confiscated more than $1 million in marijuana and cocaine after a routine
traffic stop. Then, late last week, Randolph sheriff's officers confiscated
another $1.2 million in cocaine and marijuana after raiding an Asheboro
residence.

The drug busting wasn't over, however.

On Friday, Thomasville Police raided a Liberty Drive residence and other
locations and found more than 250 pounds of marijuana, with an estimated
street value of more than $400,000. Then on Tuesday, the Randolph Sheriff's
Office confiscated about 1,100 pounds of marijuana in a raid near Asheboro.
In recent months, law enforcement agencies have made a number of
methamphetamine busts in the region, too.

This area, particularly Randolph County, has seen a rise in illegal drug
activity in the last few years. The area's location in the center of the
state and midway along the Eastern Seaboard makes it a convenient stop in
the drug trafficking network.

The area law enforcement agencies are correct in devoting time and money to
reducing the flow of drugs to and through this area despite the voices of
advocates for legalizing them. Those who advocate legalization of drugs
cite the cost of law enforcement and what they say is a failure of drug
interdiction efforts. It seems there have been some successes here, not
failures.

Advocates of legalization like to cite the failed alcohol Prohibition era
in the U.S. as a reason to legalize drugs. But that argument is offset by
the extremely harmful and addictive nature of these illegal drugs and,
particularly, the rise of methamphetamine use among teenagers.

Yes, funding law enforcement's fight against illegal drugs is expensive.
But the cost to cut off the supplies of these drugs that would be sold and
used on our streets is a price worth paying.