FAITH IS AN EFFECTIVE WEAPON AGAINST METH

Since I've been doing columns on the meth problem here in Cumberland County
and Crossville, I've come into contact with many people who've had personal
experiences with the horrible effects of this drug and most of them have
candidly shared those experiences with me. For this I am very grateful. The
sharing of these experiences has caused me to make some observations that I
would like to share with our readers.

First, I believe that traditional police efforts and crime fighting tactics
are not going to be enough to fully and effectively shut down meth in our
community. It will be extremely hard to arrest ourselves out of this
problem because our jails are currently overcrowded and the legal penalties
for many of those charged in meth cases cannot be exercised to their
fullest extent. Anyone reading the newspaper can clearly see that there is
a revolving door in our community consisting of methamphetamine offenders.
Many of these people are consistently busted for meth only to be turned
loose into the community to once again cook meth and use meth, not only
endangering their lives but the lives of every member of the community.

Secondly, there simply isn't enough regulation involved concerning who can
purchase the components for meth and the ease with which they can purchase
these items. For instance, much has been said about limiting the
availability of the products involved in the manufacture of meth by ID'ing
those making suspicious purchases and having those people sign a log at the
store where the purchase is going to be made.

Unfortunately, however good the intentions were behind this practice, it
isn't enough. Walk into any gas station in town and look around the cash
register. What will you see? I know that you will find glass stems with
small roses (or other seemingly innocent objects) inside. While these look
innocent enough, they are actually utilized by meth users as pipes for
smoking meth. Many other products such as this are also just as readily
available in our convenience stores and willingly sold by our shop keepers
for the sake of a dollar. Seems to me that if the shopkeepers cared about
the community in which they did business, they would seek to limit the
proliferation of such articles within their stores. In this way they could
limit the availability of objects used in the manufacture and abuse of
meth, by taking a small step forward in their interest and responsibility
in the community, they could largely increase its health, wealth and
happiness. Any business that would be lost would more than be replaced by
those in the community with appreciative feelings towards those shopkeepers
that took a stand and did the right thing for their fellow man.

Another observation worth noting concerns the log books people sign when
purchasing suspect items. Signatures can be forged, and so can drivers'
licenses. One meth cook could send 20 of his associates to different stores
in the community to buy supplies piecemeal, without ever arousing
suspicion. Surely this system has to be flawed.

During a conversation with a good friend of mine (thanks CS), the topic of
these log books came up and it was observed that banks may be practicing
the idea that could help our community in its efforts to eliminate meth
from our midst.

When you go cash a check at a bank and don't have an account there, what is
one of the first things they do? They ask you for your right thumb print on
the back of the check to protect themselves from fraud.

If such a practice were used to monitor the purchase of meth components,
cooks and their associates would be much less willing to take advantage of
the system to acquire their goods and have much more fear in them knowing
that a fingerprint already exists and any meth lab components that are
seized could be directly traced to them. The bottom line is if we can
surrender our fingerprints when conducting monetary transactions at banks,
then we can submit them to protect ourselves from being oppressed by the
beast that is meth. This practice would be wildly effective, if anyone has
the courage and character to seek its passage.

Finally, most of the success stories I've heard concerning people that have
been able to stop their meth use and lead productive lives have involved faith.

I emphatically believe in the separation of church and state, but I also
believe strongly that both church and state make irrefutable contributions
to the strength of America, and that they can work together for the common
good of our citizens without violating the United States Constitution.

By definition, government is experimental and imperfect, it is always a
running work in progress.

Faith has the capability to speak to the inner life, to our quest for truth
and our spirit's capacity for profound change and growth.

Government programs don't work in a culture that doesn't value family, work
and mutual respect. And it's equally hard to live by convictions given to
us by faith without acting on the spiritual admonitions to care for the
poor and downtrodden and to love thy neighbor as thyself.

Thus, if we as a community can look into our hearts and address our current
meth problem with faith, I believe there is hope for what we can achieve
together.

People that use meth and cook meth in our community are our neighbors and
should be loved. They should be loved to the extent that we make every
effort to confront them and make them realize that they are making choices
detrimental to not only their lives, but to the lives of their children and
their neighbors in the community. If this confrontation includes the police
then so be it; something has to make our neighbors realize that what they
are doing is destructive and that they are missing the point of life while
they remain on their current path.