The Observation Deck

http://fox8.com/2017/02/08/lakewood-ask ... iod-abuse/

City Hall & Co. have awoken from the wheel. They now acknowledge that Lakewood has a major drug problem, specifically with Heroin and opioids. At a recent City Council meeting, City Hall requested state and federal funding to fight the crisis, as well as help from the office of Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine.

In other words, it would appear that Mayor/Public Safety Director Michael P. Summers has ignored and turned his back on the issue for too long.

My brother who is retired from the FBI told me this weekend that if a city must call in state and federal help, that there is a major, major issue in that city. He also said that if outside help is being requested, that the problem goes far beyond overdoses and deaths. He said that there is likely a major problem with the manufacturing and selling of drugs in Lakewood. Perhaps this explains more armed robberies in Lakewood.

I suspect that since the police see these issues first hand, that they likely requested help long ago. However, to avoid acknowledging the problem, it is possible that Mayor/Public Safety Director Michael P. Summers ignored those requests. We have a great police force, but when the mayor is too busy covering things up, he probably has no time to help the police, as if they don't have enough to do.

Folks, take a life lesson from the mayor. Don't sleep at the wheel and ignore problems for years. When you awake from the wheel, you will have more problems than you did before falling asleep.

A friendly suggestion for any mayor mouthpieces that may pop up: the mayor's reputation on the Deck is pretty much trashed/destroyed in every way imaginable. Don't bother. He already did it to himself.

There have been two heroin deaths in less than a year, three doors down from me. Both were 23 year old young men. So sad.

http://patch.com/ohio/lakewood-oh/lakew ... -overdoses

There is more to add to this story.

Lakewood doesn't just lead Cuyahoga County in fatal fentanyl overdoses, it had two-and-a-half times more than the county's five other largest cities.

Also according to the article, Gilman said the following:

“It’s an epidemic problem we have now,” Gilman told the TV station. “It takes a lot of resources to respond to it. Naloxone can be used reverse the effect of a fentanyl overdose, but because it is a far more potent drug than heroin, it takes about four times as much of the antidote to revive victims, he said."

This is quite a fine line for someone with an almost 10-year expired paramedic license.

As an aside, at least City Hall finally woke up from the wheel.

If you do drugs, that a choice of lifestyle, I don't need to divert my taxes to help the stupid. Lakewood spends millions of dollars on moronic things. A city where form over function is a city run by liberal idiots.

If you do drugs, that a choice of lifestyle, I don't need to divert my taxes to help the stupid. Lakewood spends millions of dollars on moronic things. A city where form over function is a city run by liberal idiots.

Richard Baker wrote: Lakewood spends millions of dollars on moronic things. A city where form over function is a city run by liberal idiots.

Mr. Baker,

Well said.

"Rehabilitation beds? We could use probably at least 100 more beds in the city," said Litten (in the article Ms. Allen posted).

So, City Hall just gave away 240 hospital bed licenses, millions of dollars worth of equipment including hospital beds, a $50M portfolio etc. etc. and now they are asking people outside of Lakewood for bed?

Literal idiots indeed!

Ah, the irony is rich.....Team Summers pretending to care about health care.
I especially enjoy the hypocrisy of a politician that campaigned door-to-door stoking fear that Lakewood Hospital would be turned into a rehab facility.

I especially enjoy the hypocrisy of a politician that campaigned door-to-door stoking fear that Lakewood Hospital would be turned into a rehab facility.

TRUTH

Richard Baker wrote:

If you do drugs, that a choice of lifestyle, I don't need to divert my taxes to help the stupid

Well, obviously, appealing to your sense of humanity isn't likely to sway you.

So how about your wallet? It's cheaper to spend money on funding recovery and rehabilitation programs for addicts than dealing with the aftermath of the addiction - the unreimbursed medical expenses, the cost of law enforcement - investigating and apprehending the criminals who sell the drugs and hopefully, their incarceration, the cost to city residents of decreased personal safety and increased incidences of robbery and theft by desperate users .... the list goes on.

Which do you prefer to spend your money on, because you ARE spending it somewhere.

Bridget,

Think of how much money we could have saved if the Safety Director, aka, Mayor, would have listened to his officers and done something three or four years ago when the problem was in the beginning stages.

Due to summers inability to concentrate on running a city instead of his alleged $$$$$ from the hospital deal, Lakewood is now in one hell of a mess.

I witness it everyday on my own street.

Parents, If the Feds and the BCI are here, it is BAD. These thugs are making it here, peddling it here, pushing it here, etc..

If you think it is not in your children's schools, you better start to worry.

This will take a village to get through, thanks to our corrupt and incompetent mayor.

P.S. BCI stands for the Bureau of Criminal Investigation which falls under the jurisdiction of Mike Dewine, Attorney General for the State of Ohio.