Last Updated on October 23, 2016 by cassnetwork
Mayor Dave Kitchell is a proud Purdue University graduate who doesn’t own many red-and- white ensembles that would be appropriate to cheer on Purdue’s rival, Indiana. But he will be wearing red for an entire week soon.
The mayor is asking all local residents to join him in celebrating Red Ribbon Week in the fight against drug abuse by wearing red clothing.
“We want to send a clear, loud message to those who visit our city to profit from it by selling drugs or to come here and buy drugs from someone who is,” the mayor said earlier this month. “We have been successful this year in our efforts to reactivate our city/county drug task force and crack down on drug abuse, and we are prepared to take even greater steps. We can’t sit idly by and let strangers take advantage of young people and their future lives, not to mention what they can do to our neighborhoods. We’re glad people visit our community, but if they’re coming here for those reasons, we advise them to give up and get help, keep driving to another city or turn around and go back. We don’t want drug use here.”
Red Ribbon Week is sponsored annually and will be observed this year during the week of Oct. 23-31. The mayor is encouraging local schools, businesses and churches to support the effort, and local residents are being asked to display red ribbons or wear red ribbons.
Officer Dan Farris from the Logansport Police Department will be available for special school presentations on drug prevention. Farris is a school resource officer.
Kitchell, who has met twice this year with the Cass County Local Coordinating Council for a Drug-Free Indiana, said the use of heroin, opioids and methamphetamine are a particular concern. An Indiana University report found that 81 percent of new heroin users began on prescription painkillers.Those users are 19 times more likely to use heroin than non-prescription Hoosiers. Data from 2013 indicate neighboring Howard County had the second highest rate of heroin use in the state.
“This isn’t just a police issue. It’s a community issue,” the mayor said. “I applaud what the council is doing, but they shouldn’t be expected to be the only soldiers in the war on drugs. We all need to enlist.”
SOURCE: News release from Logansport Mayor Dave Kitchell