[arel]

I just read a post that said Brattleboro has a bad drug problem.

Can anyone give more information about this? What kinds of drugs are prevalent? What about drug-related crime? Also, what about drug-related services?

I don't want to leave New York City to get robbed in Brattleboro!

[KoZmiC NinJa]

Crack is eveywhere in the US and here too, but
heroin and alcohol are the big ones in Rutland.

My wife is in a field closely related to yours.
She see's the worst of it, what it does to the community.

The locals say the train is to blame because the crime jumped
way up when AMTRAK put the station there and all the stops
on the AMTRAK line in VT have problems because of it.
Meth hasnt hit here as much as other places like the midwest
but she did go to a seminar put on by the VT. State Police as to
preparing for it when it does.

I read the paper every day and have lots of interaction with locals
because of my job and if I was to opinine I would say the crime here
is less of the violent kind and more of the stealing of property.
Even despite my feelings about Rutland Im not scared to walk or
ride a bicycle through it at anytime of day or night.

[arel]

I saw a piece on CNN about anti-meth ads in Montana. They are very graphic and in-your-face. And they seem to be effective.

Maybe an ad compaign like that would be useful in Vermont.

I remember reading about some robberies in Brattleboro stores, including a gas station.

Also, the Retreat is in Brattleboro, and I think they have addiction programs. I wonder people in there for addiction treatment sometimes go out and commit crimes.

[cleobarker]

Re: the Retreat

Most often the people who are lodged in there are under watch and not allowed to roam the streets freely, unless they escape, which is rare.

Frankly, there is a drug problem in Brattleboro. It's mostly cocaine but there is a huge heroin presence here too.

cb

[greycella]

I don't think Brattleboro has a "drug problem" any more than any other place, in this country. If anything, I get the sense that the outlying towns have more troubles with that sort of stuff- especially abusing prescription drugs. The Retreat is pretty much a non-factor in the equation, because most folks who are in and out of there aren't local, they're from upstate new york. Drunk driving is way more prevalent than drug use here.

[68vette]

Drunk driving is most likely the most common problem, but as far as drug abuse, heroin is a big problem in Vermont. Outside of Vermonts #1 cash crop, pot.

[arel]

Drunk driving is a very dangerous problem. It is, generally, but it is especially so if you consider the roads in and around Brattleboro. There are places where you could skid off the road and end up in a river, or, just outside in New Hampshire, on the way to Keene, a lake. And rural roads are, in general, more dangerous than urban roads. Urban roads are lighted, for one thing, and they are usuallly, although not always, straight rather than curved.

[quickdraw]

While maarijuana isn't a big deal to me, I saw a news story that said NH had the highest percentage of high school pot smokers in the US, with VT a tenth of a percentage point behind. There are drugs of all kind in VT, like everywhere else.

[Dwatted Wabbit]

I believe alcohol is still #1, FWIW.

I fear that until the nation takes a good look at how we deal with addictions with all drugs: alcohol, scrips, street drugs, gasoline huffers, glue & aerosol sniffers, etc., but mainly the "traditional" drugs like crack, H, meth, pot, then we will have a society with too many escapists.

BTW, although they're not "drugs" as such, computer addictions and the feeding frenzy of narcissistic and histrionic behaviors that get rewarded via utoob etc. do not help.

I don't know that legalization and taxation/regulation would improve things, but I doubt it would make it worse. It would for one thing take the profits away from gangs and drug lords or at least diminish the financial incentives. It would take many street pushers off the corners.
But it's not the emotionally healthy who go looking for escape. How that gets addressed is the great puzzle.

With sick people, the personality disordered, and liars in many positions of power today, we're meanwhile reaping a nasty crop of behaviors.

[arel]

You just touched on one of my peeves: narcissistic leadership.

I am referring to leaders who are out for themselves and not for the people they are supposed to be serving.

Why do people seek power? Money, fame and control of others. Some, of course, just enjoy the work and some, I would hope, have a genuine sense of mission and community.

But, when you consider that people can leave positions of power and then make more money for a single speech than you or I can make in a year, or perhaps, several years, that suggests one reason why people seek power.

When people seek power because they like the narcissistic gratification and/or the ability to control others, that can be genuinely scary.

My feeling is that leaders should be drafted, like juries are. People who thirst for power should not be trusted with it. I think that is one reason for the checks and balances we have in our Constitution. But I think corruption can occur in ways that the Constitution does not address. For example, lobbying.

I wish someone could explain to me the difference between lobbying and influence buying. Or between accepting campaign money from lobbyists and influence peddling.

Regarding the long presidential campaigns: It is good, I think, to see how candidates behave over the long term. That way we can assess them much better than if we only saw a more limited sample of behaviors. But, at the same time, I would imagine that if you put yourself through such a gruelling campaign, and for so long, then you must REALLY want to be president. And that can mean several things, some of which are a not positive, nor conducive to ethical leadership.

About lying: When a candidate says he/she is not running for office, and then does announce, chances are that he/she has lied to you. It is possible, that the candidate has had a change of heart, but I think the usual scenario that the statement that he/she was not running was a flat out, strategized lie. I wonder why such candidates are not called on that. We accept that kind of behavior, but the bottom line is that if someone will lie about one thing, he/she would like about others.

Well, enough of my soapbox. Back to topic. A big issue is corruption. I do not know the extent to which this affects drug distribution or other drug-related matters in Vermont, but I do know it is a very big contributor to human trafficking in many countries.