DRUGS IN MORGANTOWN? NO WAY!

Ever walk through your work parking lot and get asked if you want to buy a
bag of kind bud - for those of you who are unaware, kind bud is a kind of
marijuana - for $15?

Well, my co-workers, friends and I have in The Daily Athenaeum parking lot.

Yes, that is right. It was around 11 p.m. and we were all leaving work and
a man walked right up to us and proceeded to try and sell us drugs on
University property.

Can you believe it? Hopefully most of you right now are saying yes, because
you know that it is just that easy to get a hold of drugs in Morgantown.
But my concern is not with those who say yes, it is with those who say no.

Imagine if we were a bunch of high school kids, or junior high kids. It was
not that late in the night, it could have easily been anyone of any age.

And the man who tried to sell my friends and I a bag came from the
direction of the Dairy Mart on Willey Street so I am sure we were about the
50th persons to be asked if they wanted to purchase some weed.

For some odd reason people in this town like to act as if drugs are not a
part of everyday life. As if you cannot easily get a hold of some pot or
whatever else you are looking for to get high. Almost a year ago, a young
man died from a heroin overdose and the town acted as if it was a rare
situation that would never happen again. Last year, at the MoHawk Bowl my
parents and I were walking behind a bunch o f teenagers getting high in
broad daylight on the way to the football stadium, right out in the open.
Last year West Virginia University got ranked 16th on the "Reefer Madness"
list in the Princeton Review and ranked fifth in Playboy's party school list.

Does any of this mean anything? Doesn't seem like it.

Nothing has changed in Morgantown, or on WVU 's campuses. I have seen no
major campaign in our town to crack down on the drug usage, no posters
posted on utility poles reading, "Say No to Drugs!"

When I was growing up the "Say No to Drugs" campaign was all over the
place, we had the D.A.R.E. program and commercials as well. Granted the
United States has taken on a more active role in the War on Drugs, mainly
because we are supporting those terrorists we are currently trying to get
rid of, and because the United States is in a constant battle with those
who would like marijuana to be legal (like myself because economically it
might help out our boy Bush).

But because of my education from Deputy Kisner (at the time) my friends and
I were very aware of all the drugs and what they did to your mind and body.
Whether we decided to use them was up to us of course, but we knew all
about them because of our education. Is that education still taking place
here in Morgantown? Are the children ready to face a situation like the one
my friends and I experienced in the DA parking lot? Seems to me that they
are not. Our town, and the residents in it, seem to be able to go on with
their everyday lives knowing a man died from a heroin overdose, knowing
that there are specific parts of town where drugs are being sold on a daily
basis. A judge in this town seems to have no issue letting a man get off
with probation knowing that he allowed his child to take ecstasy and almost
die. To me this is a problem.

I think it is a situation in Morgantown that should be addressed, which is
more than I can say for most of the people in Morgantown. Wouldn't it be
nice to see the city council in Morgantown working on something other than
Sunnyside Up, the Wharf District and the new Longview power plant? What
about other areas close to Morgantown, such as Westover, Star City,
Granville and Osage? The drug problem does not stop once you drive over the
Westover Bridge or Star City Bridge, it continues on into neighboring towns.

And wouldn't it be nice to see WVU do something more than worry about new
skyboxes at the stadium and how many more freshmen we can bring in.

But I guess if the town and University did anything about it all those
freshmen might not be coming to Morgantown and WVU. Think of all that money
that we would lose because we were openly telling people the truth. After
all, that is the most important issue here, the money, not the drugs.