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Substance Abuse

The BOMB…

The bomb, about to explode in America. is not from Iran, or North Korea, or Russia, or Islam.  The bomb (which is actually exploding right now), is drug abuse in America.  With the legalization of marijuana in some states recently, the stage is set for a total destruction of American society. I work full time as a Pastor in the Jail system and Juvenile Hall in Mendocino County, California–within the emerald triangle.  As a result I also work closely every day with the homeless, mentally ill, and those in poverty in the community.  Every single person who is addicted to a hard drug makes the same statement about marijuana…”It just wasn’t doin’ it for me anymore, so I went to (you name it–whatever they can get their hands on).”  Mendocino County is among the highest homeless populations per ca pita in the entire United States.  This problem is growing and coming to your neighborhood soon.

If you actually meet the homeless and mentally ill you will notice that most of them use drugs daily.  How is this possible?  Where do they get the money for drugs?  We, as a society, enable this through our current social justice efforts. We as a society are not helping these people by making money available for various things which only ends up in buying drugs, and further, making the person unemployable even for two or three hours a day.  How are these people getting money for drugs every day you may ask…don’t be stupid! Mankind has always found a way to get what they want if no one is really watching.  And, the government system is not capable of watching…it only distributes money–checks and food stamps every month.

The government war on drugs is totally failing because we are only addressing half of the problem.  As a nation we are aiming at the manufacturer and distributor of drugs, but doing nothing to deal effectively with the consumer of the drugs.  And now, we are expanding the availability of drugs.  In fact, if we are honest, all of our social justice efforts to confront homelessness and poverty actually are enabling the drug culture by providing monthly cash to people who really need monthly personal accountability.  As a pastor who works daily with the homeless and mentally ill, I know each individual personally, and whether they are trying to change, whether they are using drugs daily, whether they are willing to be accountable, and I know exactly what each individual really needs, and who is scamming the system.

Only the local community churches actually can address this drug culture and determine what each individual person really needs.  There is no doubt that some people need professional mental care, just like some need professional medical care…and professional dental care. But, the current government system doesn’t individually care for each person by making them accountable by working with them to get a job they can handle, even if it is just for a couple of hours each day.  Even mentally ill people can benefit from a basic part-time job…and the church community could help…but only if they are given clout to cause a person who is scamming the system to be dropped from the government slush fund of cash.

Our government needs to reduce the checks to individual homeless and addicted people, and increase the money available to employers to provide incentives for training and hiring of part-time people who are currently called unemployable.  Of course this will only work if the local churches are given some authority by working with the individuals on the street to determining if they are willing to be accountable, or if they just want a check and a hit.

The government could change the monthly check to a plan where a person must begin to work even part-time, and find a formula to adjust the welfare check so that it encourages people to be accountable and work..the biblical model.  The government could assign a person a church partner to be accountable to…and the church could report progress, or drop them.

Wake up America…the bomb is exploding right now!