DRUG ABUSERS NOT WELCOME HERE

The number didn't make sense.

Our circulation department had reported an unusually high number of
newspapers being sold on Jan. 6. A little checking revealed that we hadn't
sold that many newspapers on a Monday since last September.

What was going on? Why would we sell so many papers on a Monday in snowy,
shivery January?

A check of that day's front page gave the answer. The top headline read:

"Two charged in weekend drug bust."

We should have known.

We sell a lot of newspapers whenever a drug-bust story is on Page 1. And
we've had a lot of opportunities lately to sell newspapers.

"Lebanon man likely to face drug charges," read a Page 1 headline on Jan. 16.

Four days later: "Four arrested in drug raid near Falcon."

It isn't just us.

Back-to-back pages of Wednesday's Springfield paper carried these headlines:

"Men who came upon crime scene face meth charges," a story from Stone
County, and "Three charged with operating meth lab," a story from Lawrence
County.

What the heck is going on here? We're in favor of selling newspapers, and
successful drug raids certainly are news, but when did they become a
near-daily occurrence?

Is our drug problem really that bad? Right here in Laclede County?

It must be, or the sheriff's department and the police department wouldn't
have the opportunity to make all these arrests.

Just think of all the drug abusers and drug peddlers out there who the
police haven't caught up with yet.

Are these the people buying those extra newspapers when we report a drug bust?

Just think of all the illegal drugs that pass through town, uncaught, on
Interstate 44.

Hopefully those drug couriers don't see our "sleep in Lebanon" billboards.

We heard a tragic story this week from a now-divorced father whose wife had
exposed their baby to drugs.

After moving to Laclede County because of the availability of drugs.

It made us sick.

We haven't been living in a cave. But maybe we've been naive on this
subject. It hasn't been on our radar screen. It's easy to ignore Laclede
County's drug culture when you're not part of it.

We can't ignore it anymore. It's gotten too big. It's in the headlines too
often. Lives are being ruined. Innocent people, from babies to the elderly,
are being hurt. Laclede County -- in fact, every Ozarks county -- is
getting a black eye.

And we're stopping our D.A.R.E. program?

This is bad.

We claim to be the "Aluminum Boat Capital of the World." Are we in danger
of becoming the "Methamphetamine Capital of the World"?

What can we do to stop it? Something of substance -- not just for show.

Lebanon has a task force or blue-ribbon commission for every problem anyone
can think of.

Except to fight drugs.

It's time for us to get our heads out of the sand as a community and tackle
this problem head-on. Drug abuse is not tolerable in our community. Drug
abusers and drug traffickers are not welcome here.

We challenge our prosecutor or our sheriff or our police chief or anyone
else with the knowledge and stature to do so to organize a citizens' task
force to help law enforcement force illegal drugs out of Laclede County.

It's long past time to act.