NOT IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD
The above title, is a slogan some certain local neighborhoods have instituted in an attempt to deter the sale of drugs on their streets and in their neighborhood. They have convinced themselves and others that if they were successful in removing the dealers from their streets, they could stop the flow of drugs which some of their neighbors were consuming.
I personally do not understand the logic used to arrive at that conclusion. Can't they understand that their choice will affect only one portion of the problem. The dealers are there in their neighborhoods and on their street corners conducting business because there are customers for them to sell their drugs to.
The drug dealers are not the only guilty parties in these transactions.
The same geniuses have also concluded that if they establish a clean needle exchange system it will reduce the risk of certain blood borne diseases from being transmitted between users who share needles.
I've also heard that some certain intelligent individuals think it is a good idea to establish a building or some other brick and mortar location into a designated safe area for users to utilize the illegal drugs they just purchased from one of those dirty, no account, drug dealers.
Can't they see that they are becoming enablers?
Yes, drug dealers are criminals. Do not forget, that the individuals who purchase illegal drugs from the dealers on their local street corners are also breaking the LAW, thus making them criminals also.
There once was a time when local police vice squads tried to solve the prostitution problem by focusing on arresting the prostitute's who were selling their wares from street corners and other dark and secluded places. It didn't take long for law enforcement officials to realize that their efforts were having little or no affect on the problem.
So it was decided to try something else that might work. They began to use "STING operations." Using that method, they not only apprehended prostitutes, but also the Johns which the prostitutes were servicing. The local pimps did not appreciate having to bail out their workers continuously. It cut deeply into their profit margins. The police also collected the names of the John's who were utilizing said prostitutes threatening to post a list of names in the local newspaper.
This new STING procedure resulted in the desired effects and before long the pimps took their stables elsewhere.
The war on drugs in the United States, as it is being implemented, has not worked. Today we have more of our citizens behind bars than any other nation in the world. That is one area of recognition we should not be proud of as a world power. We have spent all of that time, effort, and wealth trying to eliminate the problem of drug use and haven't gotten a dime's worth of value for our efforts.
The more advanced drug dealers do not sell their wares from street corners. They stay in their homes and use the drug buyers grapevine to spread the word as to where they are located and what they are selling. The customers come to them.
We have such an advanced drug dealer on our block. You may have one on your block also. Are you paying attention? Is there one certain house on your block that gets frequent traffic, where the vehicle pulls up, stops, someone gets out, goes to the house and walks inside? Are they there for a moment and then returns to their car and leaves? Would you dare call the police and asked them to look into the situation you have observed?
One of my alert neighbors did just that. I wish it had been me.
I did notice, a strange, white van, with a large, tinted window in the side that seems to be parked on our street frequently. It wasn't too long after that our local police or the DEA raided the house. Some individuals from that house were taken away in handcuffs. After that the activity we had observed, ceased. We heard through the neighborhood grapevine that someone did some time in prison.
you could almost hear the whole neighborhood, take a deep breath and then sighed loudly. We thought it was over. We were mistaken. It is apparent to this guy, that some member of that family did not learn a lesson. I have begun to notice the same pattern of activity taking place at that same house again. Evidently, someone else had noticed also, for not long after I noticed the activity there was another raid conducted on the same house. This time they did not take anyone away in handcuffs. Perhaps the person selling drugs there again has learned something. Either they are not storing their stash inside the home. now, or they have found a secure hiding place for it close by. What ever the reason, there is one young male residing in that house who must not have a job because he seldom leaves and for the life of me, I cannot logically figure out what his means of support is. He emerges in the early morning, during warm weather, wearing a dirty bathrobe, paces the sidewalk in front of the house while he smokes cigarettes and then goes back inside.
I am now a firm believer in the common saying today, "if you see something, say something." It couldn't hurt! The police can't be everywhere.