Ya'll..... The town that I Live in, raised my 2 beautiful daughters in and where my 3 grandchildren are now and future grandchildren will be raised has a MAJOR drug problem!
This town that I love is being over run by drugs and I don't see that changing anytime soon, as a matter of fact it is getting worse. There have been at least 5 overdose incidents in the past 6 months and at least 4 deaths in almost a years time.
With a population of 13,657 residents that speaks volumes to me.
One overdose death is sad enough on its own but to have that many in a community this small is unreal and to top it off the one death was within days of Christmas and no family should ever have to lose a loved one to substance abuse PERIOD, let alone a son so close to Christmas.
OUR COMMUNITY NEEDS ADDICTION RESOURCES THAT WORK! 
 We absoultly have NONE!!
Buffalo Valley is a joke, half their employees are still users themselves and have just learned how to be function while under the influence and cover up their continued drug use in order to maintain local employment, cuz we all know that the "local junkies" are not given a fighting chance when trying to find any type of employment. 
If you have  or have had any type of substance abuse issue you can guarantee the "Higher ups" around here know all about it and good luck finding a job or receiving any kind of help because you can bet you have become one of many other locally blacklisted individuals.
This small community also has a homeless issue that tends to be overlooked and or purposely ignored. I choose to believe the latter of the two.
Substance abuse often times brings on homelessness.
Finding yourself homelesss will likely amp up that substance abuse.
The two go hand in hand more times than not and it is a vicious cycle. A cycle  (without the proper tools )that will likely never end.
See the cycle? No? Let me give a few examples....
1.) A person catches a drug charge that lands them in the county jail for lets say 6 months, during that time they lose their place to live due to the situation. Upon release after 6 months they are now clean from all substances but have no place to go, no place to rest, so it's off to one of the local trap houses they used to frequent- In most cases within a week they are using again.
2.) Due to a bad family situation, realonship ending, whatever a person who has been off drugs for awhile finds themselves homeless, again it's usually back to a place where they will be taken in as family and not judged- their favorite local trap house. Generally in these cases the person uses that day/night to numb the pain.
Let's make something clear, it is not the people at the trap houses fault the person used again, it is just hard to be an addict in any stage of recovery to keep saying no when it's gonna numb their pain and No, I am not knocking any trap house or looking down upon the people who live there or come and go from them. Lord knows a trap house or two saved my ass back in the day! More than once. 
There is a large misconception that these trap houses, in my community at least, are full of horrible people doing horrible things to one anthor and lots of creative myths are born and spread like wildfire. When in truth, trap houses and the drug community around here take care of their own people.
You hungry? Bring your ass in here and eat!
Need a cig? Lets get you one, need a light too?
Your sick in withdrawl and need drugs? Come on in, we are just getting ready to get some out.
Shower and or clean clothes? Come on in, we got ya took care of.
Your tired and need sleep? Lets take care of all of the above and get you some much needed rest!
Yet, these are the ones who are looked down upon, like trash and are judged the hardest in this small town but would't judge you, turn you away when your helpless and hungry or gossip about you to anyone willing to listen.
Even though our local trap houses and addicts take care of those like themselves the cycle needs to stop and not by locking users/dealers in jail and forcing them into withdrawl WITHOUT a M.A.T (Medication Assisted Treatment) plan in place or any kind of addiction help, worth a damn anyways! I've seen it and lived it myself, locked in a cold jail cell going through withdrawl without being given a Gatorade even to ease the dehydration.
My goal here is to reach out and help the still struggling Mothers, Fathers, son's and daughter's etc. that are falling thru the system and not being given the right help.
I have been to the bottom of the bottom of the bottom and let me tell you it is NOT fun! Especially when you feel alone and your ashamed.
People need a place that is judgment free and that will whole heartedly accept people for who they are.
Whether its strung out or just homeless at the time or both we need to have a safe place for people to go!! 
 Yeah there are MANY programs, rehabs, outpatient clinics etc for addicts but they all seem to be so impersonal and formal besides that the success rate is not very promising.
 I'm going by what I've seen first hand not a numbers statistic.
 I have known SEVERAL people who have been to inpatient rehab, whether that be court ordered or just because they felt the need to go and get clean. Out of those several people who spent time in rehab do you know how many stayed clean? MAYBE one. Just one person I know has stayed clean for longer than a few months upon release, most used within weeks of release.
I just don't think you can take a person out of their home, regular day to day environment for a mere 30 days and teach them this "wonderful magic formula" called the 12 steps and tell them to just say no then throw them right back into the same environment they came from and expect to see results.
Yes, I know there are people out there who have done well after inpatient treatment I'm just saying I've only seen it once and I'm not so sure that the one person isn't using again.
Addiction sucks y'all, the shame, the regrets, going through withdrawal at least once a week, jail, etc. It fucking  sucks!! I wouldn't even want my worst enemy to go through a quarter of the pure hell I experienced during my 20 plus years of active usage.
If your reading this and your an addict would you agree that there could be better and more effective ways of treating addiction?
The solution is not to lock up addicts or even most drug dealers for that matter, our local jails are over populated with people who just need help and trust me jail isn't helping anyone.. 
Honestly, we need to decriminalize addiction and stop treating addicts like outcasts, junkies and stop acting like addiction is a moral issue. It's a mental health issue that causes physical symptoms.
Please educate yourself before you choose  judge!! 
People have alot to say about lives they have never lived!!!
We need to come together as a community and help one anonther before it's too late. 
*EDIT- Since writing this in December of 2020 this community has lost, im giving an estimated number, at LEAST 6 more people we love to overdoses. (I will get an exact number soon).
This includes my brother, although not by blood but by love were we family....
Losing him has been devasting and I refuse to set back and watch the people of this town continue to die.
We have to save ourselves because NOBODY else is coming to save us!!