Pubdate: Thu, 03 May 2001 Source: Daily Republic, The (SD) Copyright: 2001 Forum Communications Company Contact: http://www.mitchellrepublic.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1320 OUR VIEW Illegal drugs are a part of today's society, and even in rural South Dakota, the stories of their use and sale are becoming all too common. Night after night on network affiliates, reporters stand before cameras telling stories of drug deals gone bad, of young people using drugs in basements of their parents' homes, or of methamphetamine labs uncovered in some small town. In South Dakota? We wouldn't have thought it possible a generation a go. The latest drug story to be told has a Mitchell dateline, and who, if anyone, is found guilty obviously remains to be seen. There is a constitutional presumption of innocence in this state and nation - and at the same time law enforcement officers are compelled to have just cause to make arrests. That's where judges and juries come into the picture. Police locally made a series of arrests over the weekend and Monday and said they cracked what was a major illegal drug distribution ring operating out of a Mitchell business. The investigation has been going on for years, we're told, and Mitchell PD spokesman Lyndon Overweg said that "we want to make the point that we're not going to tolerate drug use and distribution in our communities." There aren't many good citizens who would quarrel with Overweg's statement. However, we caution our community against too much speculation at this point. The arrests have been made. Now let's see how the state's case unfolds against the defendants. As the details present themselves in pretrial motions and perhaps in one or more courtroom trials, the public will be able to ascertain for itself the scope and importance of this particular drug case. From this vantage point, we know drugs are hurtling down I-90 on a daily basis. It may even be hourly, for all we know. Yet we've not reached the point of total desensitization on this front. We still hate to see headlines about illegal drugs in our community. - --- MAP posted-by: Josh Sutcliffe