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Recently I noticed on the front cover of The Union a large article detailing a sting operation performed in the North San Juan area by DEA agents and a vast array of our local law enforcement which netted a lot of cultivated marijuana growing in the green hills and valleys of our innocent community.
I yawned.
Big deal.
Why you ask, do I yawn? Why is my sarcasm clearly evident?
Because sometimes I wonder if our local law enforcement has spent a tad too much time in those marijuana fields and lost track of the real culprit eating away at our community. This culprit has eaten away at our community for the last 35 years. And is still growing strong.
It affects people between the ages of 12 and 55. I can tell you because I've seen it and see it nearly every week where I work, interacting with the public on a daily basis.
Marijuana is not a danger to this community.
Methamphetamine is.
Take a stroll with me, if you will, while I elaborate further on this. Imagine we are walking down Mill Street in downtown Grass Valley. No marijuana smoke blows past as we walk down the sidewalk. I don't see people killing one another because they want one more drag off a joint or have eaten too much pizza after sucking on the ol' bong.
What you'll see in downtown Grass Valley, during the street fairs, in the bars and out in the quiet, secluded cabins in the woods will be anorexic-slim people who have used meth so much and for so long they can't smile without showing either rotting teeth or gaps where teeth once sat.
Their skin is pale, oftentimes pockmarked, their eyes are unable to remain in place for long, darting to and fro, left and right, unable to meet your gaze because they know that we know.
Where once they had youthful appearances, now their limbs quiver, muscles slimmed down and eaten away because they themselves have forgotten to eat because they've been up for three to five days straight snorting gackers.
Their use of meth has destroyed their family because they can't keep a job, are prone to violent outbursts, leaving loved ones either beaten up physically or scarred emotionally. Children are left alone to fend for themselves and make their own food, homework left forgotten or abandoned altogether because home life is so chaotic and unpredictable that they can't do homework unless they're away from home.
And somewhere if we walk down the street and peak either in their front or backyard, or better yet, open the door to look into their house, you'll find 20 to 30 projects in some state of progress — or just plain forgotten because now they're up and running on the next project.
It isn't always like this. There are the few, the proud who can keep it together, work a job, pay their bills. Yes, there are those. But they are the few and most people strung out on meth can't keep it together that long to keep a job for long.
So yeah, when I read about the latest marijuana bust and contrast it with this, I yawn. It's because local law enforcement is so far off the beaten trail of what is really eating away at the roots of our community.
We need to focus on methamphetamine manufacturing, distribution and use. Not the weed-growing in the woods. Methamphetamine use destroys portions of the brain, causing symptoms similar to schizophrenia. But schizophrenia can be treated with medication and people suffering from this biological and psychological illness can live somewhat normal, productive lives with treatment and medication.
Methamphetamine-damaged brains can't. The medication doesn't work. And you quiver, jerk and can't keep things straight enough to get a job and be a productive member of society after so much use and so much damage has been caused. Try smiling during an interview when the drug has melted away your teeth.
So, I think focus needs to be placed on methamphetamine. People come from Sacramento for the meth made here. Stop looking for weed and look for the real cause for concern. Just take a look next time you're in town, at the grocery store, walking down the sidewalk. You'll see the casualties of meth all around you in Nevada County.
Dave Bair lives in Nevada City.
I yawned.
Big deal.
Why you ask, do I yawn? Why is my sarcasm clearly evident?
Because sometimes I wonder if our local law enforcement has spent a tad too much time in those marijuana fields and lost track of the real culprit eating away at our community. This culprit has eaten away at our community for the last 35 years. And is still growing strong.
It affects people between the ages of 12 and 55. I can tell you because I've seen it and see it nearly every week where I work, interacting with the public on a daily basis.
Marijuana is not a danger to this community.
Methamphetamine is.
Take a stroll with me, if you will, while I elaborate further on this. Imagine we are walking down Mill Street in downtown Grass Valley. No marijuana smoke blows past as we walk down the sidewalk. I don't see people killing one another because they want one more drag off a joint or have eaten too much pizza after sucking on the ol' bong.
What you'll see in downtown Grass Valley, during the street fairs, in the bars and out in the quiet, secluded cabins in the woods will be anorexic-slim people who have used meth so much and for so long they can't smile without showing either rotting teeth or gaps where teeth once sat.
Their skin is pale, oftentimes pockmarked, their eyes are unable to remain in place for long, darting to and fro, left and right, unable to meet your gaze because they know that we know.
Where once they had youthful appearances, now their limbs quiver, muscles slimmed down and eaten away because they themselves have forgotten to eat because they've been up for three to five days straight snorting gackers.
Their use of meth has destroyed their family because they can't keep a job, are prone to violent outbursts, leaving loved ones either beaten up physically or scarred emotionally. Children are left alone to fend for themselves and make their own food, homework left forgotten or abandoned altogether because home life is so chaotic and unpredictable that they can't do homework unless they're away from home.
And somewhere if we walk down the street and peak either in their front or backyard, or better yet, open the door to look into their house, you'll find 20 to 30 projects in some state of progress — or just plain forgotten because now they're up and running on the next project.
It isn't always like this. There are the few, the proud who can keep it together, work a job, pay their bills. Yes, there are those. But they are the few and most people strung out on meth can't keep it together that long to keep a job for long.
So yeah, when I read about the latest marijuana bust and contrast it with this, I yawn. It's because local law enforcement is so far off the beaten trail of what is really eating away at the roots of our community.
We need to focus on methamphetamine manufacturing, distribution and use. Not the weed-growing in the woods. Methamphetamine use destroys portions of the brain, causing symptoms similar to schizophrenia. But schizophrenia can be treated with medication and people suffering from this biological and psychological illness can live somewhat normal, productive lives with treatment and medication.
Methamphetamine-damaged brains can't. The medication doesn't work. And you quiver, jerk and can't keep things straight enough to get a job and be a productive member of society after so much use and so much damage has been caused. Try smiling during an interview when the drug has melted away your teeth.
So, I think focus needs to be placed on methamphetamine. People come from Sacramento for the meth made here. Stop looking for weed and look for the real cause for concern. Just take a look next time you're in town, at the grocery store, walking down the sidewalk. You'll see the casualties of meth all around you in Nevada County.
Dave Bair lives in Nevada City.
