LURE OF EASY MONEY AFFECTS MANY

The old saying that money doesn't grow on trees is another way of saying
there is no easy way to make money, that you've got to work for it.
Certainly in this area our abundance of long leaf pines might cause some
people to argue with the statement, but not its underlying message. Most of
us wake up, head to the office to earn a living and hopefully save enough
to retire comfortably.

There seems to be a growing number of people in our area that are trying to
take the easy way out, making a quick buck while at the same time polluting
our society with illegal drugs.

That's an unfortunate trend and one that law enforcement officers are
trying to reverse, but the reality is that the lure of easy money is
attracting more and more people to the trade. How many times have we heard
about former professional athletes that have been caught with drugs? A
couple years ago it was former University of Alabama and Dallas Cowboy
running back Sherman Williams that was caught transporting a large quantity
of marijuana. Most recently it was his former teammate Nate Newton that was
caught not just once, but twice, travelling with several hundred pounds of
the same drug. With our role models turning to drugs for the quick and easy
profit, is it any surprise that more and more of our young people are
headed down that road?

It seems that each edition of our paper has at least one story about a drug
bust or conviction, if not several. In a sense, that's good news. We try to
report on the successes of the local police and sheriff departments, as
well as the work of the 21st Judicial Circuit Drug Task Force, but the
reality is that their efforts are barely putting a dent in the drug
trafficking that's plaguing our area. In fact, Terry Lassiter, who was
arrested for possession and was later found to have a meth lab at his home,
became known to law enforcement officials during the course of a different
investigation.

Twenty years ago Nancy Reagan brought the message of "Just Say No" to our
country, encouraging young people to buck peer pressure and stay away from
drugs. That message seems to have been lost lately, as we see drug use made
legitimate on television and in the movies. Behind The Music, a show on the
cable music channel VH1, chronicles drug use among popular bands, among
other things. The interviews with musicians rarely show the consequences of
that use, just that many of them have cleaned up their own act and that
drug use was just a stage they passed through relatively unscathed. That's
an unfortunate and it would seem easy trend to reverse, but the message has
got to start in the home, both through the words and action of parents and
caretakers.

Our jails are overcrowded with inmates who are imprisoned because of drugs.
Many were caught in the act of selling them, but even more committed crimes
while under their influence or to help pay for their habit. While there are
treatment programs at those facilities, the high level of repeat offenders
indicates that they are not working very successfully. Perhaps more
resources need to be devoted to preventing drug use before it occurs. That
is where programs like DARE and other educational efforts come into play.
Those are the types of programs we need more of, and must continue to support.

Many people's reaction to the drug problem is that it is one that is here
to stay, that we need to continue on the path we are, locking up offenders.
That works to a point, but until we make it harder for the dealers to make
their easy money, it will not solve the problem. If you are a parent, you
need to speak to your children about the dangers of drug use. You need to
know what your children are doing and whom they are doing it with. Talk to
them, ask them the hard questions that they may not want to answer.

That's going to be the best way to battle this problem.