EDITORIAL: Lake County's growing drug problem

We were disheartened, but frankly not surprised, by the story last week that revealed a growing problem in Lake County for drug-related crime.

Talking to those who live in the area had already convinced us that resident safety had greatly diminished as drug use had increased, but seeing the cold, hard numbers really drove the point home.

In 2014, Lake County had 16 drug offenses committed per 1,000 people. Compare that to the statewide average of 7.2 offenses per 1,000 residents. It was even worse in Polson, which had 35 offenses per 1,000.

Moreover, the rate of drug offenses in Lake County had nearly doubled in the 10 years since 2005, when there were 8.5 offenses per 1,000 people.

Lake County Deputy Attorney James Lapotka told the Daily Inter Lake, “We had a huge explosion of drug cases starting out in 2013.” Of course, any increase in drug use is accompanied by increases in property crime as well, since addicts often resort to theft to pay for their drugs.

It would be nice if someone — anyone — could point to some easily identifiable factor and lay the blame for the increased drug use directly on it, but that just doesn’t happen. There is a lot of poverty in Lake County, but probably no more than a few years ago. There are social problems unique to reservations, but there are also safety net programs intended to mitigate those problems.

We won’t pretend there is an easy solution either. Lake County is working to develop a drug court program to provide a way out for addicts who want to turn their lives around. Law enforcement is also looking to change its strategy in fighting drug-related crime, but ultimately the responsibility for making the community a better place to live is up to the community.

It’s up to all of us to work to strengthen treatment, policing and court options, but also to strengthen families, churches, schools. The best answers won’t come from government programs, but from concerned neighbors, parents and teachers.