Health board briefed on drug issues in community

BY BRYCE KELLY

Mt. Pleasant News

To get a better sense of the community?s drug and alcohol abuse rates, the Healthy Henry County Communities (HHCC) board recently joined forces with local law enforcement to brainstorm ways to curb county drug and alcohol abuse.

Lyle Murray, Ryan Pilling and Ron Archer, all law enforcement officers with the Mt. Pleasant Police Department, attended Tuesday?s HHCC board meeting, and according to them, the Mt. Pleasant Police Department investigates at least one drug-related crime a week, if not more, indicating drug?s growing presence in the community.

?I don?t think most people going about their day-to-day lives have any idea what kind of stuff goes on (in this community) when it comes to drug abuse,? said Archer, Mt. Pleasant Police Chief. ?It?s really an eye-opener when you understand.?

Officers reported that marijuana use is an ever-growing issue, and say that the drug is certainly a gateway to other drug abuses, such as meth and prescription drug abuse. In addition, the age of drug use, according to the local police force, is getting younger with more females using and selling now than in recent years.

?We are seeing a lot more harder drugs like crack, cocaine and meth in our investigations. We have some guys, and more and more gals, bringing pounds of drugs at a time into the Henry County area,? said Murray. ?Marijuana in particular, is being sold a ton. And younger kids, 15- to 21-year-olds, are doing it a lot now because it?s a moneymaker and they don?t see any harm in it.?

According to law enforcement reports, marijuana is being sold countywide, with no particular area of the county being immune to such activities. Normally, according to the three officers present at the meeting, most people selling drugs in the county also use drugs. In younger people with developing brains and bodies, officers say the health damage done by using marijuana and other drugs is very real, and in some cases, lasting.

?In people using, a lot of them don?t have jobs or at least steady jobs, but that money to buy drugs has to come from somewhere. So, that?s when a lot of the time they resort to stealing from their family. In Mt. Pleasant especially, we have seen bursts of 15 to 20 burglaries in a given night, and that?s what?s usually going on. Someone is breaking into cars or houses looking for cash or things they can sell for drug money,? said Murray. ?And this cycle of law breaking begins and it?s hard to stop.?

Mt. Pleasant Police Department investigator Pilling says most of his time is spent on drug investigations. And while he echoed much of what his colleagues stated regarding drug issues in the county, he also stated looking at surrounding counties? drug issues does give him a good idea of what might be coming to the local community in the future.

?We aren?t seeing heroin a lot yet. I?m not saying it?s not here. We know it?s around, but it?s not popped up on our radar all that much yet,? said Pilling, saying Des Moines County, Jefferson County and Lee County all have issues with the drug. ?Drugs don?t stop at county lines.?

And while all three officers agreed that as long as a demand for drugs continues, there would always be drug abuse in the county, they said groups like HHCC can still make a positive difference. One way in particular is the continuation of drug abuse prevention programs in the school systems. Additionally, the continual support of the Text-a-Tip program, which allows members of the community to anonymously submit reports of suspicious activity to law enforcement, is said to be helping weed out drug issues countywide.

?Text-a-Tip is being used more and more, which is good,? said Archer. ?We encourage people to continue to use that resource and be as specific as possible when doing so.?

Archer also reminded the board that while tips from the community are important, regulations surrounding law enforcement practices must still be followed, which means that drug investigations do take time to complete.

?Parents often think it?s the school?s job or the job of a group like this to educate their kids on the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse. That?s not true,? said Archer. ?Parents have to constantly teach their kids, and live by example. If we had more parents who continued to keep up on what their kids and teens were doing, and we had groups like this also contributing to drug and alcohol abuse awareness, I think we?d see a major shift in drug abuse in our community.?

The next HHCC Board meeting will be held on Sept. 6, 2016, at 1 p.m., in the Henry County Health Center?s Health Education Center.