Drugs and Crime Seems to be Getting Worse

Over the last week the media in these parts have been in a frenzy over a series of drugs crimes; stabbings, robberies, beatings that seem to have been caused by drug abuse or disputes in trafficking.

Just last week a riot in a small town was started over a dispute about the price being charged for a small quantity of dope, which led to a man being stabbed to death. Nobody knows exactly what triggered this marijuana related crime but it's certainly shaken one small town, and made it's citizens feel quite unsafe. Many didn't even know that marijuana and crime were an issue in their area.

Similarly, with the end of the summer holidays we've heard of many alcohol crimes involving high speed motoring accidents which have thrown a spanner into the works on the government's program of education to reduce driving under the influence of alcohol.

Alcohol has in fact been a major concern for the government as they try to eradicate domestic abuse of women, the overwhelming majority of which has been attributed to abuse of alcohol by men.

Given the success of programs that treat drug abuse, and make no mistake, alcohol is a drug, I'd really like to see more people being referred into care to overcome their addictions instead of just being jailed. Drugs crime is a serious societal problem which doesn't just affect big cities, and I think professionally dealing with the addicts will make a dramatic difference.