Pubdate: Thu, 01 Oct 2009 Source: Toccoa Record, The (GA) Copyright: 2009 The Toccoa Record Contact: http://www.thetoccoarecord.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5073 Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n896/a06.html Author: Terry Addis LIFE IS NO FABRICATION. LIFE IS REAL. Recent rains resulted in most of our county being without water. Some residents never had their water supply interrupted. In an area devastatingly affected by weather, they lived on, basically untouched by its negative, destructive impact. It seems entirely possible to live in blissful ignorance of the realities of the world around us. If one is not personally touched by the harshness of the reality, they can live as if the idea that it exists is merely fabrication. I was without water; therefore I know the water situation was real! It is never a solution to ignore truth and embrace fabrication. It is vital to know facts and truth. Drugs are a documented problem in Stephens County. The percentage of judicial cases in our community involving illegal drugs is a statistic that says we do have a drug problem. Thankfully many live in this community untouched by the harsh, destructive realities of the drug problem. However, the facts remain, and continually remind us, that the needed confrontation of the drug problem is not merely a fabrication motivated by the pursuit of money. Stephens County Anti Drug Coalition has been instrumental in getting over 90 individuals into rehabilitation since last years drug march. Those individuals are real people who had a real addiction to real and illegal drugs. Those 90 people being helped by SCADC reflect hundreds of lives positively impacted by their diligent, sacrificial, and compassionate work. I wonder how many lives have been rescued from addiction, families restored to healthy relationships, and crimes avoided by those denying the problem exists? SCADC is making a difference! I have personally witnessed the devastation of drugs. I have met with families gripped in the pain and fear of loved ones addicted. I have looked into the strained eyes of addicts searching for a way out of their destructive dilemma. I have prayed with people desperately searching for some solace in their world which is gripped in the stronghold of addiction. I know that the drug problem is real. Separation of church and state as presented in a recent letter is fabrication. The constitutional bill of rights states: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." The legality of, and right to post, the sign pictured in an earlier letter is actually supported by our constitution! Those seeking to remove God from American society have so effectively declared separation of church and state that many accept it as truth. On Oct. 17 individuals from this community will gather to make a statement about the drug problem. We will walk the streets of Toccoa to declare our firm commitment to the challenge. I will be among those walking that day; Lord willing and the creek don't rise! Life is not fabrication, life is real! Terry Addis Toccoa - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake