BRATTLEBORO-I commend all those who attended the recent Selectboard meetings to address the plight of Brattleboro's downtown.
And kudos to Susan Bellville for pointing out that Brattleboro cannot "ticket" its way out of an increasingly desperate situation by only addressing the symptoms of a deepening crisis of crime and addiction in our community. Nor will blaming public officials, our police force, or society at large stem this rising tide.
As in any problem, the root cause must be addressed for a solution.
Clearly, the basis of Brattleboro's crisis is illegal, highly addictive drugs and the malevolent career criminals - drug dealers - who ruthlessly victimize vulnerable people of all ages, hollowing out already-fragile lives to systematically create a hostage population of hopeless and traumatized addicts within our community, all for the sake of profit.