Methamphetamine as we have learned in a recent Jefferson Post series is the latest plague upon the land.

It is the latest chemical concoction devised by people to numb the mind, divert the senses, entertain and offer an escape.

In so doing, it makes some wealthy and some destitute. In the end it can kill the abuser, and injure and most certainly bring misery to those close to him.

We have heard officials describe how cooking the substance brings bad health consequences to innocent children who live in its midst. The likelihood of fires associated with its manufacture can visit harm on unsuspecting fire fighters trying to save someon’s home.

We even heard of a chemical cauldron of meth-making materials brewing on the side of the road recently in Todd.

But meth is just another in a long line of substances people use to bring a supposed relief or provide entertainment. As with alcohol, marijuana, opiates, LSD and cocaine, of recent memory to Americans, substance abuse has led mostly to misery for many.

We can be thankful for the work of a determined Sheriff James Williams and the collaborative forces of the Jefferson and West Jefferson police departments. They have set their sights on drug dealers and are determined to put them in jail and out of business when possible and at the least to keep them guessing when law enforcement might come knocking.

We need to be realistic however and look to history to know that substance abuse and substance abusers have always been with us. They likely always will be with us.

They are afflicted by a disease, which drives them to destroy themselves and their families and endanger their neighbors and others driving down the road with them.

While law enforcement is one approach to the immediate problem, the continued existence of the problems and dangers tell us that education for all and education and treatment of the addict are also necessary.

It is too simple-minded to think that only law officers will make the situation better.

Training our children about the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse is a beginning. Talking to them with facts and in a one-on-one manner is the duty of every parent.

Schools should continue and strengthen their educational efforts.

Some are of a nature that they are more susceptible to the disease. Just as we are prepared to treat the flu and tuberculosis and venereal disease as a public health threat, we need to be prepared to offer aid to the substance abuser.

The approaching $3 billion revenue shortfall in North Carolina will hurt all segments of government. Everyone is going to have to make changes. An already struggling mental health system charged with funding drug rehabilitation services in the state will face even tighter controls.

Stressful economic times are likely to lead more people to abuse to escape.