Heroin: A small town tragedy

     I think I have said before that I live in a small town. Not the smallest of small but still small enough that everyone pretty much knows everyone to an extent. Small enough that everyone is constantly sticking their noses into other peoples business. Van Wert, Ohio is a small town. 

     Growing up in Van Wert wasn't really a horrible thing. I enjoyed myself and had plenty of things to do. I spent most of my days playing basketball at the local Y.M.C.A., hunting for golf balls and Crayfish in Town Creek, and playing with friends. I never thought of Van Wert as being a bad place. 

     Then came my teen years. During those days I spent most of my time playing video games, going to parties, getting into legal trouble, having sex, and experimenting with an array of different drugs. Back then the popular drugs were Marijuana (of course) and hallucinogens like LSD and Psilocybin Mushrooms. I think around my teen years is when I started to realize how shitty of a town I was living in. 

    Flash forward to the present and here I am writing this blog. I am happily married, have a daughter who is about to turn three in March, and still stuck in this decaying little town in Ohio. Businesses are closing down. Factories have or are laying workers off while others are simply packing up and moving overseas. New retail business seemingly want nothing to do with Van Wert. The people are worse than they have ever been. Nobody knows the word respect anymore. Nobody understands the concept of minding their own business. The town is full of clinically obese men and women, people who don't take care of their kids yet keep popping another multi-colored one out every couple of months, highly uneducated people, violent people, drug dealers, and junkies. 

    Which brings me to the Heroin problem. Remember when I was talking about my teen years and said that the popular drugs were Marijuana and hallucinogens?  Well it progressed from that to Crack Cocaine and Meth which in a few years progressed to prescription painkillers and the grand daddy of all Opiates...Heroin.

                         

The most popular drug in Van Wert, Ohio

                                                                              

     

     Van Wert's little problem is evident as can be. Just a look in the local newspaper's court news or police beat section will show more than enough evidence of the problem. Overdose deaths have also struck this small town pretty hard in the last couple of months.  I have heard the blame game played out so many times that it makes my head hurt. People try to blame the police for not doing an adequate job  in getting the drugs off of the streets. I don't agree with that by any means. I'm typically not one to defend the police department but they do what they can within the limits of the law. One thing I like to ask these people who are so quick to blame the PD is how many times have they wore a wire in the last year? How many times have they called the police on a loved one or friend who is in possession of Heroin? If you are not doing you're part to help stop the problem then you have absolutely no right at all to attempt to place blame on anyone.  

     This Heroin epidemic is a nationwide thing. It's not going anywhere. The War On Drugs has been an absolute failure and in my opinion has caused the drug problems in our country since it's conception. The only way to stop this endless cycle is to follow other countries like Paraguay and Mexico and legalize and regulate all drugs for personal use. But wouldn't that cause more people to become addicted to drugs? Not according to anyone in Paraguay. Since their legalization movement passed their crime rate has decreased as well as the amount of drug users. Think about it...it's easier for someone underage to go buy a cap of Heroin than it is for them to buy a case of beer. That's where regulation comes into play.  I won't say much else on this topic as I plan to write more about it at a later time in a separate post.                  

     What inspired me to make this the topic of my blog for the week? One man by the name of Paul Barton. 

Paul Barton

     I recently ran across a post by one of my friends on Facebook exclaiming that if anyone wanted to stop bitching about the Heroin problem in Van Wert and actually do something about it to add Paul Barton which I did out of curiosity. I came to find out that Paul's mission is to make Van Wert a good place again by eliminating the Heroin problem. By informing people and making them aware to the problem (which everyone is already well aware of).  

      Being the honest asshole that I am, I explained to Paul and to my friend Nate...Nate, who has now changed his profile picture to the upwards pointing arrow inspired by the Above The Influence government propaganda campaign.

                                      

Then again, both of these men are Christians. Anyways, to make a long story short I explained how it would never work and with the help of a good friend named Josh hijacked the entire thread. 

     Remember when I said that in Van Wert half of the problem is the people themselves? Well that still rings true today. People don't want to change. The silver spoon, big money last name people of this town will always remain above the law and above the problems effecting everyone else. The junkies and dealers will always be junkies and dealers and nobody is going to change that. The government has blew billions of tax dollars on a failed effort at stopping this drug epidemic yet this man thinks a little N.A. community meeting with some entertainment and popcorn is going to make the change this town so drastically needs. Guess who is going to be attending said events? Soccer moms, teenagers whose parents are forcing them to go, and those big money names I mentioned earlier. I'm pretty sure that no Heroin addicts or drug dealers are going to show up to an anti-drug rally, LOL. Basically it will fall on deaf ears, people will be let down, and it will not change a single iota of the towns problems. 

     With that being said, I have nothing against Paul or anyone participating in this whole thing. I am well known for being brutally honest and ALWAYS stating my opinion and that is exactly what it is that I am doing. 

     That's it for this week my faithful readers. Be sure to check back in next week. Next weeks topic is up for grabs as I am holding another contest for the topic of the week on my Facebook. Be sure to add me if you have not done so already. Other than that...have a good week people! 

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