Pubdate: Fri, 01 Nov 2002 Source: Hartford Courant (CT) Copyright: 2002 The Hartford Courant Contact: http://www.ctnow.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/183 Referenced: Series on heroin is archived as follows: Part 1 - http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1956/a09.html Part 2 - http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1963/a04.html Part 3 - http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1970/a05.html Part 4 - http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1979/a08.html Part 5 - http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1984/a01.html Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin) WILLIMANTIC'S CALL TO ACTION GREATER HARTFORD -- It is a credit to Willimantic that 300 people turned out for a forum this week to discuss ways to combat the scourge of heroin in their town. The forum organized by the Hartford-based United Way followed a five-part series in The Courant that drew attention to a 30-year-old drug problem of unusual size for a community of about 16,000. Such a large turnout shows a willingness to take a candid look at the problem and to go beyond measures tried in the past to combat drug abuse, prostitution and other public health hazards associated with heroin traffic. Some participants signed up for study circles to develop ideas and advise the first selectman's task force on possible solutions. Basic solutions are obvious: Get rid of heroin dealers and help addicts get treatment. But Willimantic lacks the resources to do it alone. Although the Courant's heroin series may not be the kind of attention that officials crave, it already has galvanized people who can help rid the community of a blight that has hindered its economic renaissance. Gov. John G. Rowland took advantage of a previously planned visit by John Walters, President Bush's drug czar, to visit Willimantic with him and to pledge $100,000 for extra police. This has been criticized as a hollow pre-election promise, given that the state is facing a projected budget deficit of nearly $400 million. Let's give the governor the benefit of the doubt. He is on record as pledging more state support and Willimantic could use the assistance. Now is also a good time to call upon him to restore funds for drug treatment programs that were cut. Gov. Rowland is right that heroin is not just Willimantic's problem, even though the city has a higher incidence of heroin use, measured by the number of heroin-related arrests, than other towns its size. It is simply wrong for a wealthy state to allow Willimantic to struggle alone against this scourge. - --- MAP posted-by: Alex