Pubdate: Sun, 23 Jul 2006
Source: Citizen, The (Auburn, NY)
Copyright: 2006 Auburn Publishers Inc.
Contact: http://www.auburnpub.com/services/send-a-letter
Website: http://www.auburnpub.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1491

DRUG WAR MUST TARGET SUPPLY AND DEMAND

Following last week's major sweep of suspected drug dealers in Cayuga 
County and beyond, Auburn Police Chief Gary Giannotta predicted drug 
activity around here will be quieter this summer.

We certainly hope he's right, but we also view last week's bust as a 
giant red flag about an underlying drug problem in this county that 
arrests of drug dealers will not permanently stop.

Take a look at the list of arrests made by the team of law 
enforcement agencies in Cayuga County last week - nearly all of them 
carried sales and/or conspiracy charges. In other words, there have 
been a lot of people dealing drugs in our community.

And that means there's exponentially more people who have been buying 
from them. Some big-time sellers are perhaps shut down, but the 
demand for their products is still there.

Authorities may hope that sweeps like these will deter new drug 
dealers from setting up shop in our communities, but if would-be 
dealers know there's money to be made here, such thinking may be unrealistic.

Critics of the government's war on drugs point to this cycle as a big 
reason that such efforts are ultimately a waste of time and money. We 
disagree. Any time a drug dealer is taken off the street, a 
neighborhood is a little safer, a community is a little stronger - if 
only for a little while.

But we also know that more needs to be done to help people kick 
debilitating drug habits. We need to evaluate the rehabilitation 
resources available in this community, and we also need to focus on 
the underlying reasons people turn to drugs - lack of job 
opportunities, poor parental upbringing, shoddy access to mental health care.

So while it was a job well done last week by all of the law 
enforcement involved, we must keep it in perspective. True victory 
will come when drug dealers discover there's no money to be made in 
this part of the region.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman