Asheville Isn’t Amsterdam!

Dr. Carl Mumpower

On March 23 the Asheville Civic Center hosted a concert event in the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium featuring the group “Rat Dog”.  It had been previously suggested to me by staff and others that drugs and related misbehaviors were a big feature at some of our concert events.  Rat Dog offered an opportunity to see that activity first hand.
 
Friday evenings belong to my wife. There is not much time left during the rest of the week, but we have an agreement that I do my best to keep Friday free.  Lisa was patient, however, when we left the movie and I asked if we could interrupt our evening with a brief visit to the Civic Center.
 

 

When
the two of us arrived at the Civic Center there were half a dozen or so
police officers congregated in front.  I said hello, went inside to
pick up my pass, and then escorted Lisa back to the car and promised
not to be long. 

 

First stop was
the men’s restroom. Standing beside me was a guy screaming something
like “Give me your keys you @*&#&^#*!” over and over to the
blank wall in front of him.  He made a few profane threats to the
urinal as I washed my hands, and then I turned to walk through the door
and immediately encountered two guys making a drug deal. Pills went
into one’s mouth and money went into the hand of the other, who wore a
T-shirt that said something like “Will Play For Mushrooms.”

 

I wasn’t in the
auditorium for more than 15 minutes, but it was more than enough time
to determine that we had surrendered the facility to those with an
indifference to the law.



The entire
auditorium smelled like an Amsterdam hash bar.  I know this because
some years ago I made a special effort to educate my son on the major
capitals of Europe.  Any tourist who has walked the streets of
Amsterdam and passed a hash bar knows what one smells like.  Amsterdam
is one of the biggest drug centers of the world.  Asheville is not, but
many of those in attendance at the Rat Dog concert were working hard to
take us there!

 

The music was good, which explains why people came. I had more trouble understanding why they needed to bring drugs too.

 

Society is
grounded on a foundation of safety.  All societies require measured
laws to support that safety.  In my experience, community members can
choose to obey, enforce, or change those laws.  Those who choose not to
are taking self-serving short cuts to power.  The Civic Center event in
question hosted a good number of people taking short cuts.

 

There are strong
arguments for and against marijuana.  It can be debated that pot is a
“soft” drug to the extent that it may impede coping skills, undermine
motivation, and saddle people with a strong psychological addiction,
but at least doesn’t turn most into social predators.  I am of the
opinion that our limited enforcement resources are better invested in
fighting the really bad stuff like crack and crank that rip the life
out of so many of our people. Still, the fact remains that pot is
illegal and to expect to come to a city facility and indulge in that
activity with immunity is absurd.



It is simply not
okay for people to be using or selling drugs in the same public
facility where we graduate our high school students.  To pretend that
this event was limited to the jolly indulgences of a few innocent
potheads is naive. The man hallucinating in the restroom and many
others had done a lot more than “burn a bowl!” This event was a
wide-open drug party involving diverse substances complacently
sanctioned by the city government and the citizens of Asheville.

 

It is not okay
to make laws that are supposedly intended to keep the word civil in our
civilization, and yet only go through the motions in upholding those
laws.  Far too many of the people who use drugs recreationally today
will drift inevitably toward addiction tomorrow.  Along their path will
be children, families, and neighborhoods who will absorb the abuse,
crime, rehab costs, medical bills, and entitlement programs that will
pick up the pieces of a life spent on addiction and self-indulgence.  

 

There are more
concerts on the horizon that are evidently famous for wide -open drug
activity.  I am optimistic that our city leaders and police will become
more serious about minimizing the active drug use and trafficking that
occurs in our Civic Center.  Behind that effort will be a message:
“Asheville is not Amsterdam”.  We don’t believe people get to good
places using drug short cuts, and it’s time to be more realistic about
the harm that drug addiction is causing to our families, friends,
co-workers, and neighbors.



Believe me, it’s not about bad people.  It is about bad stuff that’s hurting good people and a good place!

 

Carl Mumpower

Asheville City Council

drmumpower-at-aol.com