When I moved away from the Triad about five years ago, I had hoped that
upon my return things would be better. Unfortunately, I return to a worse
situation than before. It saddens me to pick up the newspapers to not only
find that this state is "drug-infested," but that the people who live here
only want to sit around talking about it. We point the finger, judging
these sick individuals, and do nothing to help them. We throw them into
jail and throw away the key.

These same sick individuals get out in two-to-10 years to go back to the
same behavior. They cannot get jobs because they have been locked up. Drug
addiction is a sickness just like alcohol abuse. People who are addicted to
drugs commit crimes so that they can stay high.

When are we going to do something to save our people? We should be offering
these individuals rehabilitation rather than incarceration. All drug
addicts don't deserve to be in jail or prison. These individuals are sick.
It is strange to me that a "crackhead" who stole clothes to make money to
get high or a drug dealer who sells drugs will spend more time in jail or
prison than a rapist or murderer.

Drugs are bad. They are bad for us all. They are bad for the mother of a
young son who was shot behind a bad drug deal. They are bad for the father
who watches his strung-out son steal from him.

So, what are we going to do about it? We cannot go on like this. Sure, lock
up the drug dealer. But his friends will only take over the business. The
war on drugs is still rising on a daily basis. The prisons are overcrowded
now with drug dealers and users. We should be creating programs to
rehabilitate and motivate these individuals to do something better with
themselves rather than drugs.

Denise McInnis

Taylor Avenue