DRUG PROBLEMS EXIST, NEED QUICK ATTENTION

Abuse of illegal and legal drugs is a problem few people want to discuss.
It is the kind of discussion that will send many political and community
leaders to quickly shuffle step and change the topic. For many folks, drug
problems are something you see on television, somewhere else. That sort of
thing doesn't happen here, many people may think.

But drugs are a big problem, even here in the Miss-Lou.

Whether we want to believe it or not, drug problems torment parts of our
community.

The costs of drug abuse and illegal drug use are staggering and two-fold.

First, drugs strip away the morals and integrity of a person. The burning
need to get the next drug fix can cause mothers to abuse and neglect their
children and normally right-minded people to commit horrendous crimes.

The second huge cost of drugs is a direct result of the first. Invariably,
drug use leads to criminal behavior, whether on the part of the user or the
dealer.

In fact, law enforcement experts say drugs are easily the single biggest
cause of crime in our area.

Drug-related crime costs our community dearly. Fortunately, unlike larger
communities the problems of drug crimes in the Miss-Lou are often
relatively non-violent in nature. But each burglary and each case of
shoplifting adds up and takes a toll on the community. Unfortunately the
stakes can go much higher, almost without fail someone in our area is shot
or stabbed each year and all too often the motive is related to drugs.

Whether we want to believe it or not, drugs are here and they are a
problem. We must admit the problems exist. Then keep the dialog open in an
effort to make sure we're doing all that we can to eliminate the drug problem.