DRUGS: OFTEN THE VICTIMS ARE PARENTS

The drug bust occurred years ago in Gastonia, N.C., a town faraway, but the
same scenario is often played out at police station's and sheriff's
departments in every town in the nation, including here in Cleveland and
Bolivar County.

Officers had conducted an early morning roundup of drug pushers and abusers,
and as daylight broke, the parents of the drug suspects began to file into
the police station. Their faces were pale and the expressions on those faces
told tales of heartbreak and shock. The question the parents most asked each
other was, "Where did we go wrong?" Their children may have had other
victims as well, but none seem to hurt to badly as the families who loved
them.

We had a feeling that if the suspects could have only seen the pain their
arrests had caused their families, they would either seek qualified help or
do their level best to somehow mend their ways.

When a mother walked into our office last week and asked us if we would
print a letter she had written to her son, who had been arrested on a
crystal methamphetamine charge, we remembered that scene in the North
Carolina police station.

She didn't want us to print her name because "her son had already caused the
family enough suffering," but she thought her letter might cause somebody
else's son or daughter to think twice before they got mixed up with drugs -
especially a drug like crystal meth, which short circuits feelings such as
hunger and fatigue and, according to one commentary we read over the
weekend, doesn't have many old users because "they don't live long enough to
get old."

The mother, who came to our office, admitted she didn't know a whole lot
about crystal meth, but she said she felt "we've got to save our children."

We hope and pray the letter she wrote her son winds up helping not only her
son, but many other sons and daughters in our town. After all, crystal meth
has become a serious problem here. In case you haven't noticed, to the
credit of law enforcement in the Delta, including the Cleveland Police and
the Bolivar County Sheriff's departments, there have been several crystal
meth-related arrests of late.

Here's what the mother had to say:

To my son:

I have loved you all your life. I tried my best to raise you to be a
responsible person and a good citizen. I wanted you to be a happy man, have
a wife and family.

The reason you have stayed in and out of trouble is because you didn't want
to follow rules. You wanted to do it your way.

Tell me, has your way worked?

We as your family have loved you very much. We do not like your actions. We
will not put up with the lies, drinking or drugs. We cannot change that. You
are the only one who can change that.

We will not live in the nightmare of drinking, drugs and lies. You have hurt
us all deeply, but most of all, you have hurt yourself more. You cannot find
happiness in a drink or a drug. It may make you happy for the moment; when
you sober up from your drinking and drug binge, you have created more
problems for yourself.

We as your family are sick of watching you slowly kill yourself. We will not
continue to live like this. You have your life. We have all helped you. From
now on it is up to you to make something of your life.

"You have two beautiful little girls who need their daddy. They don't need
the drunk, drug addict that lives on the street.

If you don't change your life, you will never experience the joys of being a
parent. As long as you have your life in turmoil, you will miss a lot.

We all want you to grow up and be the son, brother, father and uncle that
you can be. Life is not perfect. Life is what you make of it. Please don't
sell your soul to drugs, alcohol and lies.

You are the only one who can change your life. So start today.