By Coriandré Lawrence
The past couple of weeks have been a terrifying roller coaster ride. From the Boston bombing to the tragedy of the Texas plant explosion, lately, our news on this side of the world has been far from tame. But that's the world we live in, regrettably.
The fact of the matter is there will always be heart wrenching happenings here and across the world. But back home, here in our small but quaint town of Carlyle there hasn't been much happening on such a scale; or so we think. Remember the term "nip it in the bud," well, I live by that philosophy and I think Carlyle should follow suit. I'll tell you why.
As I work my way into the community, putting the names to the faces and understanding the culture I am learning the town's dark secrets as well. And by the looks of it or rather by what I'm told it's apparently not a big secret.
I attended my first town council meeting last week and listened to Cpl. Kelly Guider talk about the town's drug problem which had my head spinning with disbelief and sadness. Drugs, really, more specifically, cocaine and he explained how it has become prevalent within Carlyle.
This is a serious issue, an issue that if not dealt with soon, the repercussions will be tragic.
In a conversation with fellow reporter Kelly Running she confirmed it for me, that yes, "it", Carlyle's cocaine problem is alive and well. Ironically enough, it took a civilian to convince me and not the RCMP but that's not me not having faith in RCMP intel, it was just shock at the time. There isn't much I can say to this than, we, Carlyle and the neighbouring communities need to work as a unit and inform our local police of anything that seems out of the ordinary. And if you are reading this with knowledge of a family member suffering from addiction, report them, find help, do something. Even if it's at the stage where it seems cool and they make gestures like tapping their nostril to signify, "hey, let's go do a line," still step in and do something before it's too late. There is nothing casual about drugs and that is the picture that has been presented to me; that many people here have that outlook on cocaine, that it's casual.
Cpl. Kelly Guider was right when he said we will soon see the ill effects of drugs in our community. History is the teacher, we've seen it. Anyone who lived throughout the 80's watched as New York's soft underbelly became exposed and ravaged through cocaine use. That started as very casual until the late 80s and early 90s when people started to pillage the streets. Yes pillage, that's what it became people becoming so dependent that they would steal air if they could. California and Pennsylvania weren't left out, they suffered deeply as well.
My point is; this is my appeal to the community to nip it in the bud, please, for there is nothing more criminal that being content with unethical occurrences or acts of injustice. So please, let us band together and do something. We can start with drug seminars where those who are addicts can attend without feeling ridiculed or if we know something pass it along the police.
My next topic of interest is the situation of children walking on the train tracks from school or on their way to the rink. This speaks for itself, and kids if you are reading this and you are one who can be found leisurely walking with friends on the tracks, stop!
The unexpected is one of the greatest shocks man can experience. We see it every day in the news and we tend to make comments like,"Oh my gosh, who would ever think" or "Did that really happen there, in that place, that's sad." The reality is things like that happen and as I said the element of the unexpected can shatter the human heart and mind. I say "that" for I am even fearful of saying it, but I am sure you understand.
I don't want Carlyle to be on the news for "that", so let this be a public appeal to parents, grandparents and all adults to have the children in the community know the dangers of walking on train tracks. And at the end of reading this article I want you to call your 12 year old over and discuss the dangers. I beseech you; have that discussion, not only with your own children but with all other children who you encounter. To them it may not seem all that important and give excuses like, "I can hear the train if it's coming" or "Mom, the train only comes through at night." We cannot foretell the strangeness that life spawns at times, we can only do all we can to prevent them.
