Lake County Commissioner Ron Young wants more transparency concerning the County’s alarming increase in deaths due to suicides and drugs.
Written by Brian Massie, Executive Director / March 1, 2022
LFC was invited to an informational meeting today held by Lake County Commissioner Ron Young, with support from Commissioner John Hamercheck and Commissioner John Plecnik. Also attending the meeting were, Dr. Mark Komar, Lake County Coroner , Kim Fraser, Executive Director of the Lake County ADAMHS Board, and Suzanne Casar, Director of Lake County Job and Family Services
Commissioner Young is very concerned about the growing, out of control, substance abuse and the subsequent deaths in our younger generations. He was wondering about the viability of creating public service announcements that would be published on the websites for the County, Coroner, and ADAMHS Board.
The number 1 cause of accidental deaths in Lake County is from an opioid overdose.
Dr. Komar has the statistics that will be helpful in getting the message out to the Lake County citizens. Since the Coroner’s office is also on the front lines, they will be the “watchmen on the wall”. If they see any unusual trends that indicate that something new has infiltrated our community, they will make everyone aware of the danger.
The general consensus was that in reporting any information to the community, we must be extremely mindful and sensitive to the surviving family members’ privacy.
Since transparency is a key to good governance and an informed electorate, I wondered about asking the Lake County Prosecutor and Narcotics agency to provide information on the source of the drugs. That inquiry was meet with resistance, although it was stated that the drugs are coming from Cleveland dealers and those dealers are getting their supplies from the Mexican cartels.
When I asked why we cannot say that the drugs are coming from Cleveland, I was told that there is the “racial” issue to contend with.
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Editorial opinion by Brian Massie:
In my opinion, we will never solve the drug problem if we are concerned about offending a group. We could not talk about the Covid virus coming from China for fear of offending Chinese Americans and those in China. Will there be fallout if we continue to refer to Vladimir Putin as Russian, for fear of offending Russian Americans, or building a wall on our Southern border because Mexican Americans will be offended?
I would like to see all of the concerned Lake County officials, and all the non-profits making money off the drug treatment programs, pen a letter to Congressman Dave Joyce stating that they support the closure of the Southern border with a wall that was started by President Trump. If you want any chance of solving the drug problem, you must first start with shutting down the supply flowing unimpeded into our country and county.
However, that will never happen with the Biden administration in control. I was told that we would be putting Congressman Dave Joyce at risk of not being re-elected because he cannot be a “Jim Jordan” since his constituency will not permit him. I have been told that his “centrist” to “left of center” views reflect the majority of the voters in his district. (70% – 30%) If that is true, then it is the average citizen that is the problem of not wanting to save our children and our nation. I do not believe that to be true.
In communicating with other knowledgeable Lake County citizens, I was told that the hard drugs are coming from the Collinwood area of Cleveland, but the sale of marijuana is being done by Lake County residents.
On a related item, I have had some discussion with the Commissioners about using the pending opioid lawsuit windfall to build a 16 bed treatment center that may, or may not, be part of the $100+ million new justice center. [Read: jail]. There still is a long way to go before that decision, and all of the costs, are finalized.
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Categories: Lake, Lake County - General, Lake County Politics, Uncategorized