Here’s what we see: Yes, there’s drugs (not only heroin) in Woodstock, much like everywhere else. Right now, there is not an epidemic of heroin use in town, though there was much more use of it recently. And there can be (and probably will be) again. The town police will continue to combat drug use in the ways that it can, though it can be a cumbersome process, painstaking in its construction. A couple of busts can go a long way.
But there is a demand for drugs. An interesting comment in the story had one young person pointing out that youth were turning to harder drugs because they couldn’t get good pot. How’s that for turning the gateway drug theory of marijuana use on its head…maybe it’s really a deterrent…
The demand for drugs will take most any form…the pills stolen from a medicine cabinet, hardware store substances huffed.
The town can do things to keep young people interested and occupied, and it should.
But the thing that occurs to us the most is that the problems that lead to serious drug use have begun in the homes, and that that’s where the attention must be focused. The cops, the town, the service agencies, they do what they can. But young people have to be told the truth about what does what to you, about what you can live with and what destroys lives. The streets are a powerful intoxicant and can seduce unsuspecting innocents. But there are streets everywhere and Woodstock’s are a lot less mean than some. Knowledge and a sense of self impart the power to withstand society’s destructive elements, to survive all the streets that will be encountered, and those elements can be best accrued at home.
Saw a sign last week saying “miss me yet? — GWB.” And though I don’t enjoy the pummeling that Obama receives regularly, my answer, without hesitation, was “nope. Not in the least.” ++
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