Columns

Thanks for coverage

By now, most people have heard something in the news about a large zone of ocean trash that’s been identified and labeled as the Eastern Pacific Garbage Patch, located off the California coast. It’s one of several areas identified in the Pacific Ocean where large concentrations of human trash, particularly plastics, are creating detrimental impacts to marine life. Many of you may have noticed public works staff removing trash from some Windsor creeks in September and wondered what was up with all the clipboards and note taking that accompanied the work. Well, it’s not far off to say that the work being done by public works staff is, in part, meant to address the town’s contribution to a global problem – namely, the removal of trash from local creeks, which ultimately gets transported during storm flows to larger rivers like the Russian River and then to the Pacific Ocean.

We’ve all been exposed to pictures of drug abusers meant to scare us onto the straight and narrow path. Images of opium dens, strung out “junkies” using needles, meant to create distance between the substance abuser and the community. This strategy has worked well, creating isolation, exclusion and stigma around substance abuse issues and those that struggle with addiction. This stigma has made it harder for those in need to ask for, and accept, treatment for addictions.

For Fudge