THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, April 1, 1996 TAG: 9603290016
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A6 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 42 lines
We should congratulate all who contributed to the successful prosecution of the River Edge drug gang in Portsmouth. But prosecution of dealers in itself will never solve the drug problem. Users must be held accountable for drug-related crime too.
Dealers and suppliers are usually blamed as the cause, yet users are perpetuating the problem by making drugs a profitable business. Besides empowering drug gangs, users are destroying themselves, their families and communities. They destroy themselves with their destructive habits that cause them to sell all their possessions. They destroy their families with their selfish, abusive and violent behavior. They destroy their communities with petty thefts and fraud.
Although the crimes of users are not always as dramatic as shooting someone, they are more widespread and just as devastating to our community. So what can we do to solve the problem?
Condemn any use of illegal drugs. Reformed users can be especially effective in spreading the word about the pitfalls of drug use. Young people in particular need to hear and understand this message.
Support family members and friends who have a drug problem. Help them to get treatment. Don't enable their drug problem by ignoring it or rejecting them.
Encourage prosecution of users and sentencing them to effective treatment programs.
Behind every drug dealer are hundreds of people in the community who buy from him or her. It is time for drug users, along with their families and friends, to stand up and take responsibility for a problem that they help to perpetuate.
MIKE KELLY
Norfolk, March 17, 1996 by CNB