According a July 27 letter to the Advocate, some are proud of successful efforts to legalize the sale of alcohol in Danville, basically because it has added $800,000 to our budget surplus.
Why should we be proud of a few extra dollars when we take into consideration all the negative results to our city, county and several surrounding counties? We have become an alcohol oasis and supply center for a large region.
A casual reading of The Advocate-Messenger reveals the drastic increase of many crimes in the “police blotter.” Some would say this is largely due to the use of “other” drugs. How long will it take us to admit that alcohol is the greatest drug problem in America?
Recent studies conclude that alcohol is the gateway to use of all other drugs. We should expect an ever increasing rate of crime related to efforts to obtain addictive drug(s). Should we be proud of the scourge we have inflicted?
In a July 10 article in The Advocate-Messenger, Garrard County Coroner Daryl Hodge said in a report to the Garrard County Fiscal Court that every single death of a person under 50 in Garrard County this year was drug- or alcohol- related.
The only reason alcohol is not referred to as a drug is because it has been legalized. “Unfortunately, the problem is only going to get worse,” Hodge said. “I wish I could tell you differently.”
In a July 29 article in The Advocate-Messenger, Boyle County Sheriff Marty Elliott, was quoted: “In my years of law enforcement, I have never arrested a robber or burglar who was not addicted to some kind of narcotic. Unfortunately, as pill addiction increases in the area, it is our belief that violent robberies as well as burglaries in general will continue to increase.”
Are we proud of this, saying “bring it on” as long as it produces a few extra bucks? Has money become our “god?”
I apologize for not doing more to prevent this scourge from being inflicted upon us. Only the future will reveal the damage done.
Ernest L. Martin
Danville
