Law enforcement officers are doing their jobs. Are you doing yours?
The use of illegal drugs - which is killing the people it does not harm in other ways - is a supply-and-demand operation.
Two major drug raids last week that resulted in the arrests of more than 40 alleged drug dealers may have weakened the supply side. But if we - parents, drug-free advocates and the entire community - don't work to lessen demand, new suppliers will emerge to plug the gap.
The focus of the drug raids was not recreational marijuana use. The suspects were arrested on charges of distribution of controlled substances, including heroin, methamphetamine, crack cocaine, cocaine, psilocybin mushrooms and ecstasy, as well as marijuana.
The raids were a result of investigations by the Missouri Highway Patrol's Division of Drug and Crime Control and the Mustang Drug Task Force. They were carried out by officers from the patrol, sheriff's departments from Cole and Callaway counties, and Jefferson City and Columbia police departments.
The drug busts come in the aftermath of a recent murder conviction connected with a drug deal gone awry.
In comments about the trial, Cole County Prosecutor Mark Richardson attributed 90 percent of criminal prosecutions in the county to crimes involving illegal drugs.
"It seems that, in the last many years," Richardson said, "drug-driven crimes account for approximately 90 percent, or more, of the work we do in the prosecutor's office. Of course, I'm talking about illegal drugs, people addicted to illegal drugs, people buying and selling drugs, and people attempting to rob others of illegal drugs - or of the money they've gained from illegal drug sales."
The prosecutor credited police for a meticulous, comprehensive investigation - commendable professionalism again evident in last week's raids.
As a community, however, we cannot expect law enforcement to shoulder the entire burden.
Illegal drug activity may lead to incarceration or death - sometimes by heroin overdose, other times by gunfire in a botched drug deal.
We must actively support efforts to discourage illegal drug use and its dire consequences.