western nebraska (Lincoln, Alliance, Chadron: crime rate, home, college)

[kathy58]

was wondering if there is a drug problem in western ne., especially the chadron area. i live in so. indiana and the meth and crack are serious problems would love to find somewhere to move where it isn't affecting so much. thanks for any info.

[uncleharley]

You are probably on the right track. According to this website http://www.city-data.com/city/Chadron-Nebraska.html
The crime rate index for Chadron, Nebraska in 2004 was 67.8. The national average was 315.1. The lower the number is, the less crime they have.

[DION40]

Originally Posted by kathy58

was wondering if there is a drug problem in western ne., especially the chadron area. i live in so. indiana and the meth and crack are serious problems would love to find somewhere to move where it isn't affecting so much. thanks for any info.

Kathy, I also live in Indiana Terre Haute that is. I was born in Alliance Nebraska witch is not too far from Chadron .I grew up there all my teen life. It would be a perfect place to raise kids you would have alot a stuff to do there. There is a local college there and not to far an old fort calvary there Fort Robinson its a great place to take kids I enjoyed it when I WAS YOUNG. Also there is South Dakota to viist like Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse. It is totaly different life style from Indiana. You need to take a vacation over there and see for yourself. One day I will return back to my home town . Enjoy.

[kathy58]

I have been to S.D. several times and love it there. So I was looking for somewhere to live that direction where the cost of living was lower, and stumbled on Chadron. Was curious if it was as great as it seemed, for what I was looking for. Thanks for the replies, I intend to head that direction sometime this summer. Thanks

[sinnerster6]

chadron ne well i live there now its about 50 percent meth addics there.they will break into your car and your home just to steal your stuff.closeted druggies are everywhere no joke.never move into a place call regency mobilehome park its the worst dang place in chadron just thieves and dopers.the town itself is good butthere are no short supply ofthieves and dopers.take care i hope this was helpful and godbless.

[Gunluvver2]

I think the Meth problem exists everywhere, even in small rural communities. My first encounters with Meth were in the 1970's when I was in the trucking business. A lot of drivers used Meth although it usually had other names back then. I was never tempted mainly because I figured anything that would keep me from enjoying eight hours of sleep was something I did not want to try.

I did have friends that got hooked on it though and it destroyed marriages and lives even more than alcohol. When I retired from trucking I got a job at our State Penitentiary in Lincoln, Nebraska. In the ten years I worked there I saw just how huge the problem of Meth and other drugs could be.

One thing that I did notice was the difference in the effects of various drugs. For instance the drug we most hated to see make it inside the institution was PCP. Trying to deal with an inmate who has ingested PCP is about as scary as it can get! PCP creates monsters and if there is a way of eliminating it the world would be a better place.

Crack and Meth were other drugs that caused staff a lot of problems. Several inmates told me how they became instantly addicted to crack. One of them was a bank official in his early forties who tried crack as an experiment. He said he was hooked on it almost instantly and within a few months he had lost his job, house, wife, everything he owned and tried to rob a bank just so he could get crack.

Long term Meth users face all kinds of horrible health problems and have to fight the addiction the rest of their lives. Alcohol addiction is the most common problem and probably creates more havoc than any other drug, legal or illegal.

Heroin addiction when I was in Corrections was a problem we very seldom saw. For some reason the Federal system ended up with most of the Heroin addicts. Don't ask me why because I would just be guessing.

Finally: Marijuana! In our random drug testing program the numbers of inmates testing positive for Marijuana was off the scale. I suppose the reason for that is that a drug test will detect MJ levels for a longer time period than opiates, Meth or other drugs. Keep in mind this was a Maximum Security institution and drugs were still getting in. Visitors and crooked staff were probably the main source of supply.

Now I am going to make a statement that may make some of you think I am totally crazy but I am going to say it anyway.

"Marijuana is the best thing there is to keep an inmate population under control". Just MY opinion and the authorities will probably not agree. LOL. Why do I say that? In all my years working with inmates I never saw an inmate who was high on just Marijuana commit a violent act. Cops I know tell me that they very seldom have a problem with a violent pothead. On the rare occasion where MJ is present in a violent offenders system they usually have Meth or some other potent drug present also.

Do I think Marijuana should be legalized? Probably not. Mainly because heavy Marijuana use seems to turn people into lethargic, muddled thinkers. I do think that our judicial system has created more problems with overzealous prosecution of marijuana users than it is worth.

Again just my opinions and observations.

GL2

[Chris19]

Very good post, Gunluvver2.

The drug problems are present in small towns, suburbia, and in the large cities. Some places worse than others. The place where my dad grew up in the 60s and 70s in South Dakota was a quiet small town and moved away in the late 1970s. The town of 100 has turned into a trashy and druggy town in the 1980s and 1990s. My dad and grandmother would never move back there. The town has a termite problem also, which is more common in other parts of the country with more trees.

[Dave1215]

Know several folks in Chadron and students at CSC... If I were to move to Western Nebraska I would put it towards the top of the list of places to consider...

[IsThisOneTaken?]

Every town has its own share of the drug problem, Chadron is no exception. However, it is far from crime-ridden. I would have no problem moving my family to Chadron. Nice town, nice location and proximity to recreation, outdoor opportunities, and more.