Hurrican Katrina Couldn't Take The Drug Dealers With Her

If anything good were to come from Hurricane Katrina blowing through New Orleans it might have been the exodus of its seedier element, the drug dealer and drug pusher. And so it was - for about six months.

The relocation of these individuals only served to reinforce connections with Mexican and Columbian drug cartels based in Houston. And when they realized that the New Orleans market was now up for grabs, dealers and pushers moved backed in to stake their claim.

There are so many dealers and pushers trying to gain a foothold that the streets have become flush with cocaine, crack, ecstasy, marijuana and heroin. In order to establish clientele dealers are selling on credit, selling at reduced prices, or giving it away. It's a drug addicts market.

As a result, law enforcement officials in Louisiana are struggling to keep up with an illicit drug trade that has exploded to levels higher than they were pre-Katrina and with a population that's half the size. Drug arrests in 2006 had almost doubled, the amount of cocaine confiscated had tripled and marijuana quadrupled since 2005.

With 60 percent of the city still uninhabitable much of the activity has spilled over into neighborhoods and parishes that used to be relatively untouched. From 2005 to 2006, the murder rate in Jefferson Parish had doubled and it all stemmed from drugs.

While local law enforcement officials and the National Guard continue to do what they can to curb the availability and trafficking of these illicit drugs, there is still the matter of demand. Naturally curious, kids will want to experiment with drugs. The truth is that much of the curiosity stems from a lack of information regarding drugs and the dangers inherent in their use.

But there is a bright side. It turns out that individuals, who make it through the age of 21 without using illicit drugs, in almost all cases, continue out the rest of their lives drug free. We can actually change these numbers and we can do it by educating the young about drugs and drug use, and helping those unfortunate enough to have become addicted.

Talk to your kids about drugs and if you know someone who's become addicted help get them to a drug rehab center so they can safely withdraw.