Like any other region of the country, Cass County finds itself amidst an ongoing battle against drug and alcohol abuse occurring within its limits.

Be it from abuse of marijuana, prescription painkillers or methamphetamine, more and more households are being adversely affected by these substances. Drug-related offenses continue to dominate the attention of law enforcement as well, with such crimes littering the docket of cases at the courthouse every week.

A community-centered organization dedicated to pushing back against this trend is now employing a community-centered approach in order to determine its next move to continue its fight against drug abuse.

The C.A.S.S. (Cass Alcohol, tobacco and other drugs Safety Solutions) Community Coalition recently created a short survey to ask people throughout the county about their perspectives on drug abuse in Cass County and for suggestions on how the problem should be handled. The survey is available online at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/S95WMRG, with responses due by Tuesday, Sept. 13.

According to coalition Director E.J. McAndrew, the survey is targeted for nearly every resident in Cass County, from medical professions to law enforcement officials to just regular families.

Reponses to the survey will be used to help the coalition develop a plan for the new fiscal year, which begins in October.

Already heavily involved with efforts to combat substance abuse within the county, we hope that a strong response to the organization’s survey will further bolster its efforts in the coming years.

All one has to do is pick up one of our company’s newspapers to read about the impact drugs have locally. Nearly every week we have a story about people were arrested for drug abuse or for other crimes that were committed while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

It is an ongoing problem we will likely always contend with, but if we as a community take a stand and vow to work together to help keep our streets clean, we are sure we can make a giant impact in curtailing the problem for years to come.

And the first step to contributing to that cause is filling out the coalition’s survey. It takes just a few minutes but your feedback will be a tremendous help to a group of talented and dedicated men and women on the front lines of the fight against drugs.

 

Opinions expressed are those of the editorial board consisting of Publisher Michael Caldwell and editors Ambrosia Neldon, Ted Yoakum and Scott Novak.