Pubdate: Fri, 04 May 2001
Source: Gary Post-Tribune, The (IN)
Copyright: 2001 Post-Tribune Publishing
Contact:  http://www.post-trib.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/827

PORTER COUNTY TAKES A STEP TOWARD SOLVING ITS GROWING DRUG PROBLEM

Our opinion: Drugs can no longer be considered a problem that's confined to 
the region's urban areas.

Drug use and its side effects is so pervasive in the United States that 
there is no single way to solve the problems it causes. There are no easy 
ways and no quick ways.

But people can't let that stop them from trying if they want their 
communities to be safe and their children to grow up healthy and drug-free.

Many residents of Porter County have taken the first step toward crushing 
the drug culture: They admitted that it exists there - not a small thing in 
an area that prides itself on not being infected with urban miseries.

Last Friday, 300 people publicly acknowledged that drugs know no boundaries 
and are not indigenous to particular demographic groups. After all, it's 
hard not to realize that when nine young residents of Porter County have 
died in the past two years due to illegal drug activity.

As important as anything that came out of the "Call to Action" conference 
was the number of people who showed up ready for action and the wide 
cross-section of people represented.

"We can no longer live in denial and pretend it's not happening . . . ," 
said Karen Conover, Porter County Council member and president of the 
Community Action Drug Coalition, which spearheaded the conference. "It's 
not just someone else's problem or for others to solve. It's ours."

With that agreed on, various groups plan to start the nitty-gritty work. 
The challenge will come in maintaining momentum. It will be a long process 
that will require persistence and coordination. It will also require a 
continuing honest assessment of the county's drug problems.

It is a fight the community can't afford to lose.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens