The brazen armed robberies in the Okotoks and High River area is just another reminder that no longer how much one wants the small-town atmosphere, sadly, we’re not in Kansas anymore.
Gone are the days of Bearcat Murray’s youth of Okotoks being a community of around 2,000 people and literally, everyone knew one another.
Okotoks is a bustling community of 24,000 and sits on the doorstep of a city of more than a million to the north.
While Okotoks can share in the prosperity of the big city —thousands do as they make their daily commute to work — it also shares in its problems.
Drug abuse is one of them.
No one knows whether the thug who is terrifying employees at knifepoint as he steals Oxycontin from foothills area pharmacies is from Calgary.
However, with Calgary being only 15 minutes away, it’s not a stretch of the imagination the thief is stealing in smaller towns to sell his take in the big market of Calgary.
It’s another reminder the Okotoks’ citizens have to be vigilant and watch out for one another.
Pharmacies are doing the right thing by only ordering Oxycontin, which is used to provide extreme pain relief, on an as needed basis.
As well, several pharmacies have posted signs on their store windows indicating they don’t have Oxycontin on site — letting thieves know they can’t find what they are searching for.
However, pharmacies need help.
Fighting a war on Oxycontin in Okotoks needs to be a community effort.
Neighbours need to be watching out for one another. See a suspicious vehicle, phone the RCMP.
It’s not just about Oxycontin. The same goes for marijuana and other drugs.
If you notice some weird smells around your neighbour’s house, people coming and going at odd hours, blinds drawn, or wet windows, these are just some of the telltale signs of a grow-op. Call the authorities.
It’s already happening in Okotoks. In the past five years, Okotoks RCMP have executed search warrants on four different grow-ops in Okotoks and area.
The most recent raid took place in March 2011, and another in June 2010, also in the Westmount neighbourhood. Another took place in November 2009 in the Silvertip neighbourhood, and two were found in Cimarron in April and June of 2009.
If nothing is going on, at least you will have peace of mind. But doing nothing could have disastrous results for your community.
Education should also play an important role. The effects on society from Oxycontin and other drugs should be told in foothills classrooms.
Ultimately, all Foothills or Christ the Redeemer school divisions is provides facts to the students. It’s moms’ and dads’ responsibility to provide lessons about drug abuse to their children.
Sit down and talk to children about drug use, ranging from a beer and cigarettes to Hillbilly Heroin— Oxycontin.
