Civic Responsibility, Crime, Drugs, Economics

Drug Abuse Problem in Valley

Click to see original imageEvidence continues to mount that we in Utah Valley – like other areas of the state and nation – have a serious drug abuse problem.

It’s a problem that can neither be swept under the rug nor solved simply and quickly. Definitely it can’t be left strictly up to the law enforcement officers. These men are trying, but they need your support.

They need your support in backing up the law as a good citizen should – and that means willingness to expose persons who sell dope or other-wise break the law and to testify in court.

It means, too, putting our own house in order. As with so many things, obedience to law begins in the home.

Testimony both of the existence of the drug problem and of the crying need for better community support of police efforts appears in a letter to the editor on this page. It was written by Richard L. Maxfield, the district attorney of the Fourth Judicial District. When a district attorney is moved to call to public attention (1) the rise in illegal use of drugs and (2) pathetic public support for the officers trying in do something about it, you can be assured we have a problem we’d better tackle with more vigor than has been demonstrated thus far.

We can no longer say: “Why don’t the police do something about it?” The job extends far beyond the specific borders of police work.

We do not wish in portray the problem as being worse than it actually is. We emphasize at we have frequently done, that we have faith in our young people, the great majority of whom are law-abiding. The violators are a relatively small minority.

But you can’t ignore such evidence as:

-The district attorney’s disclosure (quoting a police officer) of alleged widespread involvement of students in sale and use of drugs.

-Rep. Laurence L. Burton’s information from the FBI that nearly every community in Utah has its illegal drug traffic and “every high school and college has a narcotics problem.”

-The report of Dr. Glen Brown, assistant director of the Utah State Hospital Youth Center in Provo that there is a 20 percent increase in young patients admitted because of drug problems.

Rep. Burton said one report reaching his office showed that 15 percent of all the high school students in Utah have, at one time, tried dope. Drug arrests are up 700 percent in the nation, he reported.

Within a few days Rep. Burton plans to join several colleagues in introducing the “Drug Abuse Education Act of 1969,” a comprehensive measure to help parents, students, and community officials learn more about dangerous drugs and the effect of their use.

This is commendable. Legislation can help. But at best it is only a partial answer. Individual recognition of the problem and its dangers, application of a strong effort in obeying and enforcing the law, and sincere attempts both to prevent violations and to punish and rehabilitate violators are primary steps.

Parents must be more concerned; schools must maintain tough rules and enforce them; citizens in general must recognize their duty in cooperate with the law and not pink-step the obligation to “get involved.”

In San Clemente, Calif., a police chief upheld the law and had fellow officers arrest his own son for possession of heroin and marijuana. This was a tough decision for the chief, but to him there was only one honest course and that was to carry out the law no matter who was involved. We need more people with that kind of devotion.

The drug abuse problem will not go away by itself. Now is the time for a total effort to control it. As Mr. Maxfield suggests, we’d better conquer it now before it devastates our society.

Inflation’s Treadmill

Guest “editorial” from a newsletter published by the investment firm of Goodbody and C0.;

“From 1965 to 1968, gross weekly earnings in manufacturing rose nearly 14 per cent, to $122.50, with about half the increase occurring in 1968 alone. Higher Social Security taxes and the surtax, however, held the gain in average take-home pay for the manufacturing worker with three dependents to 10.3 percent. The consumer price index during the same period rose by 10 per cent, thus leaving a three-year gain in purchasing power of only 26¢ a week.”

That, in case you were wondering is what is known as inflation – or running as fast as you can to stay in the same place.

The average worker was actually better off in 1962 through 1965, the newsletter points out. A more stable price level enabled him to realize an annual average increase of more than $2 a week in his purchasing power during those years.