It’s about time for a community watch

I used to think that only paranoid crack-pots and cranks called the FBI to report “suspicious activities.” You know, like during the red-scare, folks with too much time on their hands and not enough to worry about would spy on their neighbors and turn them in as “godless Commies.”

But today I think that it’s really not a bad idea to keep track of anything you think is suspicious and report it to the Feds. Let me tell you why.

The FBI’s number One investigative priority is drugs. Counter-terrorism/National Foreign Intelligence is number three.

According to Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) website, Methamphetamine remains the principal drug of concern in Iowa. Iowa also serves as a funnel for transporting Meth to the eastern United States via Interstate 80. The FBI says that I- 29 and I- 35 also are also an important part of north-south transportation for drug traffickers.

Schools are sort of miniature worlds of their own. You remember how there were people who always seemed to get away with stuff. They’d throw a big kegger on the weekend or beat someone up or vandalize the principal’s house, and then at school they’d brag and laugh about it to their friends, but no one would ever turn them in or the school would never be able to get their hands on any hard evidence so there was nothing that the teachers or principal could do about it.

If someone did say something, they’d get beat up, or at least ostracized. If the school tried to take action, the perpetrators would deny knowing anything about it, maybe their parents would even defend them. It drove you crazy didn’t it? Especially if as soon as you’d step out of line you’d get nailed and have to serve all kinds of detention time.

That’s what’s happening with meth in Western Iowa. We’re quick to make the Mexican immigrants the scapegoats. But after living, and working with so many Hispanics over the years between growing up in Arizona and teaching in California I want to tell you that for the most part Mexicans value family, faith, tradition, and honest hard work. It would be a crime to blame all of our areas drug problems on the growing Latino population.

Granted, a lot of drugs are brought up from Mexico, Miami and L.A., but not all of them. And those are kids in gangs or organized mafias. No, there’s too much of it. It’s like my friend who taught at a Lutheran School in Arkansas used to tell me. “The Liquor Stores have drive-through windows down here and there aren’t enough Lutherans and Catholics down here to sneeze on, so some of the Baptists MUST be cheating.”

Money and drug dependence can suck anyone in. I’m just a transplant so I don’t really know anything about anything, but I’ve heard too many rumors and complaints from too many people about white people transporting, dealing and distributing for it to just be rumor.

I’m not pointing any fingers or giving any specifics for several reasons. For one thing, I’m not 60 Minutes doing an expose here, I’m just a guy who writes a column in a local paper for a hobby. You can’t loge allegations if you haven’t done the investigating to provide any evidence. For another, I am a devout coward and drug users, drug dealers, gangs, and corrupt officials all have the same habit of doing things that the rest of us would never even consider to reporters and judges who try to get in their way.

Amphetamines or “uppers” show up in many prescription drugs, like allergy antihistamines, diet pills, and things like Redilin, which is used to treat Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity disorders. Some of the ingredients from these medicines are used to make methamphetamines. But so are things like anhydrous ammonia. You’d have to be crazy to put that in your body, right?

Exactly right. Users occasionally experience chemically induced schizophrenia, and psychosis. At first, low doses may increase athletic performance, increase energy, but it will also cause increased irritability, restlessness, insomnia, anxiety, and panic. High doses can induce a psychosis marked by confusion, irritability, fear, paranoia, hallucinations, increased aggressiveness and antisocial behaviors. Crazy.

If you thought drunk driving was a problem, or that kids are more likely to have sex when they’re on pot, you don’t want to mess with someone cranked up on Meth. They believe they’re Superman.

In other words, if making it, getting it or using it don’t put you and the people around you in enough danger, your behavior while you’re on the stuff will. That’s not to say that it couldn’t kill you itself. Users may occasionally experience brain damage, kidney, liver and lung failure, heart disease. Long-time, continued use can lead to death due to a sudden organ failure, heart attack, or stroke.

If you have a problem or suspect someone you love does, you’ve got to get help. Try calling Jackson Recovery in Denison at 712-263-5065 or in Mapleton at 712-882-9011.

Why do we have such a problem with meth in rural Iowa? Probably because we’re so remote. Dealers and producers have lots of places to hide where no one will notice them. I’d like to think that our local law enforcement is oblivious or their resources are just stretched to thin. That’s why I’m writing this column, because I believe we need outside help. It’s time to call in the Feds.

So what are we supposed to do? I once knew someone who told me that they were being sexually harassed but they were afraid that if they reported it, “the powers that be” wouldn’t be able to do anything about it, it would be he said- she said. So I told her what administrators and counselors tell me, Keep a record of incidents so that you can establish a pattern. Then, if you think that one level of authority can’t or won’t do anything about it, go over their heads, straight to the top.

We can protect our community by keeping watch. In small towns like this almost everybody knows everybody’s business anyway. Just keep track of what you notice on a piece of paper or a notebook. After a month or so, report what you’ve observed and why you think it’s suspicious to the FBI or the DEA or both.

In Crawford and Monona Counties call the DEA’s Sioux City 712-255-9128, Or call the FBI’s office in Sioux City on 6th Street at (712) 258-1920. If you live in Harrison and Shelby Counties call the Omaha DEA Office at 402-965-3600 or the FBI at 402/493-8688.

What else can we do? Some may say I’m a Jesus freak, and others will cynically think that this idea is useless, but I think we should pray. Imagine if everyone who read this column would stop for a minute and ask God to break up the drug rings that have made Western Iowa a clearing house for meth. Surely God would hear us.

The Australian author of dozens of Christian devotional books, Sidlow Baxter once said, “Men may spurn our appeals and they might reject our message; they may even oppose our argument and hate us personally, but they’re powerless against our prayers.”