LaPorte's Civic Auditorium hosted it's first drug task force roundtable meeting Wednesday evening. And it was in front of a packed house.
LaPorte Mayor Blair Milo has made the battling drugs a main focus of her administration. She says LaPorte is dealing with a lot of cases of prescription abuse and heroin addictions. She says those are the cheapest drugs to buy and their affects are scary.
"We're going to keep addressing the issue and keep tackling it head on." Mayor Milo said.
While she admits the city's drug issues, she says LaPorte is just one of many cities dealing with such abuse. Their only difference is they're willing to talk about it. Like at roundtable discussions. And they've already seen progress.
"We have seen a significant decrease with heroin deaths already this year in LaPorte County. So I consider that to be a pretty big win. But also I think there's an intangible quality to what we're achieving here." Mayor Milo said.
That intangible quality she says is the communities awareness to the problem and the sense of togetherness they've built because of it. Like youth pastor Ken Grace. He's works with nearly 100 teens everyday and knows the threat they face with drugs.
"It's very hard to find a student who hasn't been impacted by drugs in some fashion." Grace said.
He thinks the topics talked about at the roundtable are proactive. And knows that the fight against drugs is one the community won't back down from.
"I want our city back. I drive down the street and I could watch people just sitting, with nothing. No hope. No purpose. This is part of it. I want it back."
