Meth,Oxycontin, And Other Kentucky Recreations

Kentucky is really being hit hard by the various scourges of illicit drug use, especialy the eastern and southeastern sections. Meth, Oxycontin,crack cocaine, you name it, the state is really being hit hard, and there seems to be no end in sight. A few months ago, a man who is a cousin of one set of cousins of mine, though he is no relation actually to me, was murdered after he was robbed while delivering a pizza to the home of the girlfriend of an Oxycontin abuser, who beat him to death with a baseball bat. Just the other day, two women were arressted for maintaining a meth lab in their homes. They had just recently gotten out of prison, on parole, after serving only a couple of years of a sentence for his very crime, having been arrested in this first instance when poice responded to a domestic violence call to their home. On the same day, police announced the arrest of a man awaiting trial on charges of selling Oxycontin, when they found a large stash in his home in Laurel County, in addition to finding fifty thousand dollars cash sewed into a pilow cover. He insisted he didn't know where any of that stuff came from. Oh, really? Now, I've heard stories of police busting targets by planting evidence on them, such as a joint or a bag of cocaine, etc. But fifty thousand dollars, now that would be different.

But this brings up an interesting point. The fact that this guy was out on bond to begin with, the idea that two women would be paroled after only a couple of years for producing in their homes such as volatile and explosive a concoction as Methamphetamine, the mere presence of which is a safety hazard to an entire neighborhood,to say nothing of the dangers of ingesting it. Indeed, the man responsible for the murder of my cousins relative had himself been recently paroled after serving just a portion of his sentence. And it goes on and on.

In the meantime, there are numerous doctors and pharmacies who turn a blind eye to the abuse of Oxycontin and other prescription drugs, and continue to prescribe them, knowing full well what the devastating results are not only possible, but probable, to be. The money is just too damned good. That's why they are prescribd to begin with, even in cases where they are not really necessary.

And law enforcement is just way behind the times, as courts hand out too light sentences, and parole boards release potentialy violent offenders, knowing fullwell they are likely to reoffend, and what the many times violent implications of that actually are.

True, efforts are being made to improve the siutuation, to raise awareness therough public education measures and stepping up of law enfocement and encouraging stiffer penalites for repeat offenders, and first time ones, with the requirement for enhanced rehabilitation requirements and follow up. Congressman Hal Rogers, of the Fifth District, has been instrumental in his ground breaking efforts in establishing these much needed programs and policies. I only hope it's not way too little way too late.