07 October 2008

The Decline And Fall - Part V...
It should come as no surprise to us when we hear about someone getting shot (and sometimes killed) over some dumb-ass drug deal. In many ways, we've become desensitized to many aspects of this part of society.
We could blame that on the drug culture of the 1960s, and we'd only be partially right.
What we can really blame it on is peoples ability to make wrong decisions, and their avoidance to take any type of personal responsibility. We can also blame the judicial system for the lack of accountability when it comes to trying to "rehab" these people.
No one can tell me that someone FORCED some illegal drug into these users' lungs, down their throats, or into their veins.
That dog ain't gonna hunt with me.
These users are looking for an EASY way out of their problems. It's more than merely a "recreational" thing to them. And to the pushers, it's ALSO an EASY way out...of poverty...or so they think. The labor under the misconception that the easy buck will solve any and all of their problems. They fail to challenge themselves to become productive members of the citizenry. They pay no taxes. They are often "ganged up" and that creates a whole other set of issues regarding a false sense of "family".
But EASY is rarely the best way out of any situation. Sometimes you have to fight, scrape and scratch your way along life's road in order to achieve. They just can't conceive of such "nonsense".
Drugs have been around for a helluva long time, whether they were medicinal or illegal in nature. It's only recently (within the past fifty or so years) that the synthetic/chemical additions to the list have been added, and we can thank such notorious people as Timothy Leary for that. Better living through CHEMISTRY...and the ruination of society in the process.
Hell of a legacy, don'cha think?
Here in Fort Wayne, we, like many other cities with some type of sizable urban area have a drug problem...and it's multi generational in nature. And while the city thinks they're dealing with it as well as possible, they, also like their larger urban counterparts are losing the war on drugs. Sure the police win a skirmish here, or a battle there, but the war does not go well...even after all these decades of "fighting" it.
On ANY given day, in neighborhoods across our city, that used to be replete with children playing, neighbors waving "hi", and working-class people earning a living. you can see a drug deal going down. Mostly these areas are located on the SOUTH side of town, and with good reason. It's where the largest concentration of minorities and "poverty-stricken" people have been led into.
Meticulously, and with a guile unrivaled, the city made it possible to allow many of the "wrong" people to inhabit this part of town, and by the wrong people, I mean those whose only agenda is to make sure the drug trade thrives by any means possible.
As a result, this part of town has become a lot less livable over the years, and a lot more like a battleground. People fight for drug turf. Who will be allowed to sell what to whom, and where the best areas are to deal.
Now I can say that the proliferation of drug traffic HAS been on the increase over the last decade. You used to see a lot of traffic at a house. Well, we still DO see that, but we're now seeing the "drive-up" buys. I've spoken at length about these in past posts, including pictures of the perps. Sometimes, they get caught. Too often, they get away scott-free.
And whether it's a "busy" corner, or a street that is frequented by drug dealers in their "thugmobiles", one thing is certain; It's not going away anytime soon.
It would probably shock the hell out of you to find out HOW MANY people in this city are USING illegal drugs regularly (whether it's recreational or not). Let's just say that a conservative number would be about 40% (with a fudge factor of + or - 5%).
That's some serious numbers, folks. The lawyer up the block in your nice part of town could be that nose-candy fiend, or maybe it's that office manager that doing the meth to meet all his deadlines. Maybe its even that teacher toking a doobie on the weekend to "relax".
Whatever the case, this city DOES have a problem.
And the problem WITH this problem, is that more problems come THAT problem.
Sounds confusing, but it's really not.
With drugs come all the other things we've come to "enjoy", such as loud music, littering, public urination, gunfire, reckless driving, along with a blatant disregard and disrespect for anyone and everything within the druggies' "sphere of influence".
You and your family don't mean a damn to these people. And the proof is in the number of innocents killed as "collateral damage" in a deal gone bad, or a gang-related hit on a rival pusher.
But if you know of the BP station at McKinnie & Anthony, you're already aware of such things like the shootings there.
Life gets REAL cheap...REAL fast, whenever drugs get involved.
As to all the TYPES of drugs coming into Fort Wayne (with annoying regularity), they can be found at THIS site:
http://www.usdoj.gov/ndic/pubs0/660/overview.htm
**Unfortunately, the statistics are not AS RECENT as they should be (2001), but rest assured, they are accurate.
You can see the fallout from illegal drugs at THIS site:
http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/incrime.htm
And if you want to see most of the crimes occurring in your area that could very well be drug-related in nature, stop by here:
http://www.spotcrime.com/in/fort+wayne
Now you're probably wondering how the drugs GET HERE?
Not a problem...we've got "connections" to Mexico, through Texas and Arizona, as well as the ties to Chicago gangs.
You may recall an incident a few years back where some Latinos were caught smuggling pot in huge earthenware vases in the back of a delivery truck. More recently, we had a huge pot bust up in Harlan (McChesney case-worth about $6 mil), as well as other assorted marijuana busts in and around the city (some even being home-grown in nature).
Then there are the METH LABS. Used to be confined to RURAL areas...not any longer. We've got MOBILE meth labs, cooking this shit in the backs of cars that are (in all likelihood) driving next to you on our streets and roads across the city and county!
We've got the OXYCONTIN thieves targeting damn near EVERY CVS or WALGREENS in the damn area.
So what is the net result for all this crap?
Well, take a look around your neighborhood. If you don't see a change, and all is well, count yourself one of the fortunate.
If not, you need to start getting on the stick about being more vigilant.
Take the recent thefts from vehicles on the SW side of town. I'd wager the police are watching all the PAWN SHOPS real closely, because people need to fence that stuff for some quick $$$ to get that next rock, or whatever else they are pumping into them.
We had such a person that USED to live a few doors away.
She got into meth (not the best dietary aid, I might add), lost a lot of weight, lost her job, lost her house...in THAT order. The house sits vacant, a property of the bank awaiting the next break-in attempt by the local scrappers, who are probably also looking for a fast score of cash to feed THEIR habit.
It quickly becomes a perverse form of "The Circle of Life", as it were, and those dwindling numbers of decent folks are left to deal with this, trying to fight it, or just bugging out, turning over MORE properties to those who would take over the area.
Do poverty and drugs go hand in hand?
Not if you're a person of ANY level of substance.
It's when you've been given every damn entitlement from every governmental agency that you sit back, watch the world go by, and "indulge" yourself with some drug-enhanced euphoric stupor.
It might not be the single mom with 3 kids trying to eek out a living causing the problem...it's her boyfriend of the month, and all HIS posse that causes it. And again, that will force good people AWAY from a neighborhood.
It only takes ONE HOUSE to start the cycle anew.
We've created a generation that feels the world owes them a living. They also feel they can do whatever they want in the process. And that includes drugs of any type and quantity.
Can this tide be reversed?
Only if more people are truly willing to get involved. When people stop doing NOTHING, and start doing SOMETHING, then, and only then, will they no longer be part of the problem, but become part of the solution.
And the solution is to reclaim our neighborhoods, making them places people WANT to live, and not exist in fear of their lives.
People cannot just keep moving.
Sooner or later we will run out of room. Best thing to do is to better utilize the room we already have, and if we have to stand on the necks of the drug pushers, and even the users to make that happen, then so be it.
In today's world, we can't afford NOT to.

3 comments:

Murphy said...

'Amen' and 'Preach on' doesn't nearly cover it.

Anonymous said...

not all single moms have a boyfriend of the month. i work my arse off and try to get in at least 70 hours a week at work. the economy is sucking so i am only getting in 40 to 50 hours. more on the 40 side.

Bob G. said...

Sarge:
...Roger that!

Indy:
I'm positive that ALL single moms don't act that way...you being a prime example (and a GOOD one as well)...

I only speak to many of those I see in my particular locale, and reference by their actions.
These are the ones staying home, leeching off the state & Feds while "boyfriend" gets his groove on w/ his posse.

Someone once said:
"Many will try...few will succeed".

Count yourself among those few.

Thanks for the comments.

B.G.