Pubdate: Sun, 07 Feb 2016
Source: Daily Press (Victorville, CA)
Copyright: 2016 Freedom Communications, Inc.
Contact: http://www.vvdailypress.com/sections/contactus/
Website: http://www.vvdailypress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1061
Author: Steve Hunt, Editor

WHEN DRUGS CLOUD YOUR VISION

I'm from the generation that fell in love with drugs, I'm sorry to say.

Timothy Leary implored us to "turn on, tune in and drop out." Some of 
my friends did that, though most of them later regretted it.

I've seen kids who didn't look a day over 10 stoned out of their 
minds at an Alice Cooper concert. I've seen grown men with good 
careers throw them all away because they got hooked on cocaine. I've 
seen young and old guys looking for a quick payday so they could get 
that next fix of heroin.

I've had relatives get in deep trouble because of drugs. I saw one 
die from addiction to prescription drugs, literally turning gray 
before my eyes a few weeks before passing. Fortunately, I've also 
seen others finally wise up and realize they were better off leaving 
drugs alone.

Suffice to say, I'm no fan of drugs, whether we're talking marijuana, 
LSD, meth, cocaine, heroin or whatever prescription painkiller you 
can get hooked on.

Nothing good comes from drug use. If you're trying to escape, it'll 
only be temporary. If you're trying to forget, you never will. It you 
just want to relax, try meditation, music or reading.

If you need pot for medicinal reasons, it's your right to use it. 
Millions of Californians voted for that because they felt it could be 
helpful for any number of medical conditions.

But why the city of Adelanto feels the need to allow cultivators in 
its business parks is beyond me. No city needs 25 cultivators.

What the city is really doing is looking for a quick buck. And what's 
a quicker buck than the drug trade? But that's precisely why the city 
shouldn't have allowed cultivators in Adelanto. Isn't that just 
telling kids to go for the quick buck and who cares if that buck 
comes from the drug trade?

That's the rationale gang members have been using for years to 
justify their drug businesses. Why work for "the man" or anyone else 
when there is money to be made easily by selling drugs? Who needs 
education? Who needs anything but the gang?

It's foolhardy. It's wrong.

We need leaders in the High Desert who will elevate our collective 
consciousness, who will inspire our youths to try harder, be smarter 
and go farther in life.

We need to realize our region will never be all that it can be until 
we demand more from our leaders and, if necessary, find better ones.

Adelanto leaders have complained for years that the city has been 
stigmatized. Well, why do you think that is?

If you create a stigma, don't complain that you're stigmatized. You 
created your own reality. It will never change unless you take steps 
to change it.

Bringing marijuana cultivators to town isn't going to do that. 
Bringing prisons to town isn't going to do that. Chasing away some of 
your top employers isn't going to do that.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom