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Hard Drugs Steal Some of Ashevilles Luster; Lets Boldly Attack and Defeat Dealers |
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by Dr. Carl Mumpower and Dr. Joe Dunn
Op-Ed
Asheville Citizen-Times
May 12, 2004
In
June of 2002, Maxine Huband learned that her brother, Asheville
pharmacist Doug Smith, had been brutally murdered in a restaurant
parking lot with two gunshot wounds to his chest. Recently, through a
persistent, enthusiastic and resource-demanding process, our citys
police department arrested a suspect for this crime. Early indications
are that this person, a hard-drug user, murdered Smith because the
pharmacist had stepped forward to report him for "doctor shopping" as
an illegal means of obtaining drugs.
Last week, four courageous
students acted out their versions of the struggle that many young
African-American men face in running the gauntlet of drugs, violence,
crime, lost dreams and other social ills of our times. Their play,
under the guidance of director David Mitchell, "What about the Four?"
represents an admirable effort to shine a bright light on the
catastrophic impact of hard drugs on our youth. Their central message
offers a sobering call for action - one in five Africana-American males
in our community will become addicted to hard drugs, be jailed or
otherwise adjudicated, or die prematurely as a direct or indirect
result of hard drug exposures.
In his thoughtful April 24 commentary,
"We Have the Power to Help Abused Children, but We Have to Use It,"
AC-T Exec!
utive Ed
itor Robert Gabordi called for dedicated community
action against child abuse. Gabordi highlighted the death of infant
Gabriel Duckett as a victim of patterned child abuse. With an official
complaint history that ran from his 17th day of his brief life until
his last at 20 months, little Gabriel apparently lived in a home where
hard drugs distorted his parents role from life givers to life takers.
Gabriels tragedy is symbolic of a parade of destruction that too often
finds child abuse and hard drugs thriving in a marriage of terror and
harm.
The Problem
Hard
drugs touch the lives of every single man and woman in Asheville. We
find that touch not only in the heart wrenching stories and statistics
noted above, but in the daily impact on our economy, quality of life
and personal safety. It has been estimated that 80 percent of the
crimes in our community are directly or indirectly connected to drugs.
Our school retention rate for minority male students is tragic and
results in an endless manpower pool for unscrupulous drug dealers who
can offer an enticing alternative to minimum-wage jobs.
Hard
drugs can be purchased in Asheville at any time of day. Our hospitals
spend an astounding amount of resources providing a revolving door for
addicts who seek "time out" over the more demanding responsibilities of
recovery, and then plunge back into the predatory world of drug
addiction. There are far too many places, in public housing and
neighborhoods throughout our city, where children are witnesses to a
carnival of dealers and users who commit their bold exchanges with the
impunity of those who fear no challenge.
The Solution
It
is time for Asheville to say "No more" to hard drugs. It is past time
for our community to step forward with the courage and example of
phar!
macist D
oug Smith and say, "No. This is wrong, and I will not look
away from the harm." To succeed we will have to be willing to offend,
to work and to risk. A look over our shoulders tells us it is far too
easy to accept, to wait, to deny as long as this issue doesnt threaten
us or our neighborhoods too directly. Its OK to ignore the fact that
too many people in our communitys public housing neighborhoods and
downtown are living in a state of fear and siege because evil always
seeks the safety of isolation, intimidation and darkness. Hard-drug
dealers and users from the outside are active in all parts of our
community because we arent. We must more dramatically respond to our
city governments number one charge–the public safety. In doing so we
can lay a foundation from which a larger community effort toward
education, treatment, drug screening, community service and other
interventions can emerge. It is time to dedicate our time, energy, and
resources to an enthusiastic program of public safety that finds
Asheville getting hard on hard drugs.
The Plan
Hard-drug
dealers are persistent, and to beat them we will have to be more so. If
we do not dedicate sufficient resources to this undertaking, we will
fail. Effective hard-drug intervention requires community and
relationship-based policing, and that takes manpower. A program of
substance will have to cover our entire community all hours of the day
with a level of service that exceeds that of those who deal drugs.
There is a need for a "Hard Drug Intervention Task Force" dedicated to
keeping our feet to the fire. We have to work closely with our schools,
employers and helping services. Our legislators will be asked to search
for ways to support and strengthen our court system. But at the root of
it all, we will have to support our police in rapidly going after
distributors, dealers and buyers!
whereve
r they go or thrive in our
community. There must be no place in Asheville where a person can deal
or buy hard drugs without fear.
Arguments calling for nine
months of research, statistical analysis and program development have
artificially impaired councils ability to face this tough policy and
budget decision this year. This is not a matter of personal discord
between council members. It is a matter of differing perspectives and
priorities. We believe that our citys police, with their wealth of
knowledge, experience and expertise, can readily define our hard-drug
problems and initial strategies for intervention. We have to give them
the money, manpower and mandate to ensure their ability to succeed. To
do so will require a leaner budget from some city departments. There
will be less discretionary money for staff and council to invest in
other community interests. With the strong revenue picture for the
coming year, no tax increases are remotely necessary. It is past time
for the city of Asheville to say "No more" to hard drugs.
We ask
your support as we continue to debate and explore our responsibilities
to address our hard-drug problem as a part of this years budget
development process. With your help this council can embrace the wisdom
of Thomas Watson - "Solve it, solve it now, and if wrong, solve it
again." With your help we can answer the haunting questions: If not
now–when? If not us–whom?
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