State anti-drug officials felt let down when a recent drug abuse forum in Yukon yielded few interested residents, according to a recent story.
According to The Oklahoman, Canadian County Sheriff Randy Edwards expressed disappointment that the OKC suburb didn’t turn out more than 20 to 25 audience members.
The story said the folks dotted the otherwise empty pews at the First Baptist Church in Yukon. The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs organized the quiet little gathering.
“It saddens me that this church is not filled tonight,” Edwards said. “You can tell by looking at the crowd here tonight that people aren’t aware of how severe the drug problem is.”
Where were the excited throngs, thrilled at yet another forum to learn that drugs are bad, m’kay?
Actually, bureau spokesman Mark Woodward told the few attendees at the church, teens think they are invincible and indestructible.
At Chicken-Fried News, we are puzzled. Why wouldn’t citizens rush into the streets to celebrate the forum? After all, 2009 marks the 40th year of the so-called “War on Drugs,” first announced by Richard Nixon in 1969.
Edwards, however, has some ideas to get folks fired up to stop lighting up.
“If we don’t start working together and getting the public aware of the problem, we’re going to lose the battle,” he observed.
Only the week before the forum, according to The Oke, the bureau did a “sweep” in Canadian County, arresting about 40 people accused of sellin’ illicit narcotics to undercover agents.
In fact, Edwards said, 95 percent of the inmates in the Canadian County jail are there for drug-related offenses. (Is it just possible that the forum was being held in the wrong building?)
This article appears in Mar 18-24, 2009.