NOT WORTH THE RISK

Drug dealers should think twice about selling their wares in the City of
Galax, as a result of last week's major crackdown on illegal narcotics.

During the past six months, many of the customers they've sold a rock of
cocaine or a bag of pot to have been undercover officers or paid police
informants.

The police department began arresting 37 people indicted on 83 felony drug
charges handed down by grand juries in Carroll and Grayson counties.

Police took drugs and dealers off the streets in a high-profile bust that
should deter - at least temporarily - the narcotics trade in Galax.

It was a time-consuming operation that took months of long and late hours to
complete, and the officers who dedicated themselves to the effort should be
commended.

Police are not naive enough to say they have ended the drug trade, but
operations like this show they are trying hard to fight a battle that never
ends.

The market for illegal drugs will remain strong so long as there are users
who desire them - either by choice or addiction - and dealers more than
willing to cash in on their customers' sickness.

What the police department can do is make Galax an unwelcome place to sell
drugs.

Neighborhood watch groups and community policing are paying off by training
the public to take back the city.

While the drug arrests were going on last week, some enterprising dealers
from out of town decided they could move in and sell cocaine to buyers whose
regular dealers might be sitting in jail.

A citizen spotted the dealers and alerted police, stopping their scheme
almost before it got started.

Residents and police working together - that's what it takes to make drug
dealers view Galax as a place where they are not welcome and where doing
business is not worth the risk of arrest.