Monday, October 5, 2009

Heroin use up - why???

This morning's Daily Herald (www.dailyherald.com/) reports that heroin use is up in the Northwest 'burbs. How can people be so stupid? That's the question!

A community forum is scheduled for Wednesday night at 7:00PM on Wednesday, October 7, in the theater at the Buffalo Grove High School, 1100 W. Dundee Road. The forum is free and open to the public.

A similar event at the Woodstock High School was so lightly attended as to be almost embarrassing. Where were the parents???

Is the DARE program working? It's targeted at the elementary schools. I guess the idea is to stop drug use there and then, eventually, you've wiped it out in the community. Right? Is that how it works? Does it work?

Do kids need support in saying NO to those who entice them and attempt to hook them? Of course, the older kids and the pushers don't tell their customers that they are trying to "hook" them. They must learn not to accept even free illegal drugs. As soon as they are hooked, then they'll do anything to get more.

What is going on in Woodstock District 200 schools right now to squash drug use? You can probably ask about any student who's doing drugs, and he or she will be able to name some kids. Okay, parents and school staff need to know who they are!

We, the schools, the police and the People can make life so uncomfortable for the pushers - and for the users, if they don't quit - that they will find Woodstock to be a very unpleasant place to live. If Woodstock is known as a very unfriendly place (for drug pushers), that's okay with me.

And the same for McHenry County! If the drug pushers get squeezed out of Chicago, they are not welcome here.

5 comments:

QuitWhiningAlready said...

I think your answer is in the post itself. The WHS event was so lightly attended. When I grew up in McHenry County, the idea of using heroin was about as far-fetched as sprouting wings and being able to fly. Heroin was something unspeakable and ugly reserved for the truly derelict addicts who had slipped past the point of no return. It was an urban "problem", not one for McHenry County. I don't think parents are aware of the drug's status change in the community or it's availability.
Additionally, I tend to think that if my kid got in trouble with the law, I'd be rational, listen to what happened and then deal out my own "sentence" on that child much worse than the legal system could dole out. However, he or she would have to deal with the consequences handed down by a judge, too. Unfortunately, it is all too regular for parents to receive a call from the PD, they come screaming into the station about how their child would NEVER commit a crime, the police are harassing him/her and don't we have anything better to do than pick on poor little so-and-so? Not all parents behave like this, but it is certainly a startling number that do. It is not surprising to see that parents don't think THEIR children could possibly be doing drugs, much less heroin.

yagottabekidding said...

Years ago the numbers indicated that D.A.R.E. wasn't working. Woodstock law enforcement was quoted as saying they were going to keep the program anyway because they liked it. Must be some good money involved there.

Another Lawyer said...

Gus, you have a somewhat dated view of heroin use.

Gus said...

A/L, in what way is my view dated?Is the trend, as reported by the Daily Herald, correct?

Karen30036 said...

QuitWhiningAlready said...
"Not all parents behave like this, but it is certainly a startling number that do. It is not surprising to see that parents don't think THEIR children could possibly be doing drugs, much less heroin".

Absolutley right, and that starts long before drugs enter their lives. It starts with the "little" things such as bullying, stealing, vandalism etc ...
You confront a parent(s) to make them aware of the problem behavior and you get hung up on, the door slammed in your face or threatened with a lawsuit. A few years down the road, these same parents have now made the police and judge deal with their kids.
I don't understand why some parents don't believe in discipline. It may be the most difficult part of being a parent, but it's what makes a child feel secure and loved, knowing their boundaries.