As scary as it is to think of narcotics in Garden City, the truth is that they are already here, as last week’s cocaine bust on Seventh Street showed.

Heroine has become a scourge of the suburbs. According to the Nassau County District Attorney’s office, the number of deaths attributed to heroin overdoses doubled in the county between 2004 and 2008, with every indication that the number for 2009 will be even higher. At a press conference in July former County Executive Tom Suozzi noted that the number of heroine-related deaths in the first half of 2009 exceeded the number of drunk driving and homicides combined.

Several high profile deaths have taken place among high school students or recent graduates in communities similar to ours, and there is no reason to believe that it can’t happen here. Heroine knows no boundaries.

We’re glad to hear that the Village and School district have been involved in fighting drug abuse. The Village’s participation in the county task force shows that it is aware that the problem is here as well as everywhere else. The Garden City School District has also been fighting drug abuse through programs integrated into the curriculum.

While it’s hard to believe that hard drugs are available in this beautiful town, but the truth is, there is an ocean of them available everywhere, and the tide is rising on Long Island.

Meg Morgan Norris

Publisher