Fighting drug use is community responsibility
Contributing writer
These past two weeks have shed a light on a dark, if not hidden, aspect of our community: the drug culture.
I am very thankful for the work of our city police department and our county sheriff’s department. Both offices worked very hard to make it clear that the use and sell of illicit drugs will not be tolerated within our community. Drugs have stolen the lives of countless individuals over the years and everything we can do to prevent their use is of benefit to all of us.
What happened these last two weeks though was because we have not done everything to stem drug use in our community. What will happen if these charges stand and convictions are obtained? Parents could be separated from their children for years, children could experience instability as they interact with their parents and their foster parents, and the community loses significantly.
While I am a supporter of our local law enforcement and our judicial system, it is becoming more and more apparent that our prison system does little if anything to help addicts overcome their addictions. Many times they come out of correctional facilities having better learned how to correctly use drugs and still get around drug tests administered by the court systems.
We, as a community, would be wise to seek help for those who we know suffer from drug addiction. We cannot wait for them to be arrested and have their children taken away and assume that those events will be enough to convince them that their drug use has gotten out of hand and they would seek help on their own.
Prairie View has a residential drug treatment program as well as Valley Hope in Moundridge. These are places that have the resources to help our community members who suffer from these severe addictions. The catch is that they cost a significant amount of money. But for what it costs and what can be accomplished in a few weeks, compared to what it costs to run these people through the judicial system, is actually less and has a proven far better outcome.
If you know someone who needs help fighting an addiction, don’t wait for the police to show up on their doorstep; join me, and commit to helping these individuals find the help they need before it is too late for them to receive it.
Illegal drugs have no place in our community, but the people who are addicted to them are part of our community and they need our help and support as they overcome their addictions. Let’s join together and with the police and sheriff’s department, let’s make it clear that drugs have no place in our community, but let us not abandon the people of our community because they are addicted to drugs.