THE WAR ON DRUGS

It was, to say the least, a left-handed compliment from the United States
Department of Justice. The $222,222 Community Oriented Policing Services
(COPS) grant recently awarded to the Andalusia Police Department and the
22nd Judicial District Drug Task Force was a clear indicator of a serious
problem. If we did not have a terrible situation in this county with the
production of the highly addictive and destructive drug methamphetamine, we
would not have gotten the grant.

However - if our law enforcement agencies hadn't been so aggressive in
their approach to the problem and so efficient in the prosecution of the
drug abusers and manufacturers, we wouldn't have gotten the grant, either.

So while it is a terrible shame that we need the police and the DTF, we
must keep in mind we are hardly the only ones who are facing this problem.

Methamphetamines are leaving a wake of destruction across this country, one
that grows wider each day, one whose ripples touch every life in one way or
another. We are not alone in facing it.

Now we have help, and with that help, in the form of the COPS grant and
federal support, we can face the meth problem better prepared. We highly
commend Chief Wilbur Williams, who with his staff has worked long and hard
to acquire the grant, and all those public servants, from city level to
state and federal levels, who helped him. We also have to commend the
district attorney's office and those working to see justice done and the
drug manufacturers punished.

Our task force and our police department have already proven that they have
the know-how and determination to go after the drug producers - now, thanks
to their efforts with limited funds and equipment, they truly have the
means to continue the fight in the war on drugs.