Pubdate: Fri, 21 Jan 2005 Source: Leduc Representative (CN AB) Copyright: 2005 Leduc Representative Contact: http://www.leducrepresentative.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2265 ASK QUESTIONS Leduc Representative - Over the weekend, a stabbing took place at the Coyote Club in the City of Leduc. Local RCMP said it's drug-related and the Edmonton gang unit has been called into help assist with the investigation. But the facts and history show some of the problems faced by our community are drug and gang related. They are problems that need to be acknowledged and addressed. Geography places Leduc 20 minutes south of Edmonton if you take Strathcona as the point of departure closer if you take Ellerslie Road. Whether we like it or not Leduc is now widely viewed as a bedroom community for the City of Edmonton. A gang related spill over of violence into affluent suburban Leduc is not too surprising given the geographic facts and the magnet of easy money Leduc provides the unscrupulous and heartless individuals who inhabit the world of drug trafficking. To Leduc's credit, a committee working in conjunction with Family and Community Support services is tackling the growing methamphetamine problem. In addition, a new funding from the city was provided for a new community relations police officer to act as a school resource officer - Const. Josee Smith. A community forum was also held in Edmonton on June 18th to discuss strategies in tackling gang crime and gang violence. Make no mistake, drug trafficking is a major business and source of revenue for gangs; this includes all drugs especially the low-cost, high-profit methamphetamines. It can provide local dealers with hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars in revenue, annually. All earned on the crippled bodies and minds of their victims who forever chase a cheap high. Only the type of proactive approach to awareness and education demonstrated by the Leduc FCSS and the city of Edmonton can provide long-term solutions to stem the tide of drugs and the gangs they support. The other essential ingredient is community support and awareness. Leduc needs to remain vigilant at the public and personal level. These problems cannot be passed over to someone else or some other institution the solutions require the personal commitment and involvement of each and every one of us. Our police, social services, mental health and educational services need your support. Ask questions, keep informed and stay in contact with your children. Help them with their choices. May you never receive the phone call that tells you your child is left in a pool of blood dying from vicious knife wounds to their body? Wounds inflicted apparently over a drug debt incurred from a few cheap chemicals snorted up a nose or smoked in a pipe. - --- MAP posted-by: Josh