Glass Tube Roses Spark Fury in Community Residents and Civic Leaders

If you have visited any of the many corner stores in our community, you have likely come across "The Love Roses." The sad reality is, however, it is not really a rose and it has nothing to do with love. When you see the little rose in the glass pipe, what you are really looking at is a CRACK-COCAINE PIPE. For years, local retailers have been cashing in on the high markup value of these little weapons of mass destruction. The not so funny thing about the novelty items is that I have never seen them in any stores outside of the urban communities. Now, in these times, it is hard to believe that we have become so numb to the death of our communities and ourselves that we can turn a blind eye when someone manufactures a product with the sole intent of perpetuating the vicious cycle of self-destruction of an entire group of people. The time is now for us to put full-court pressure on these stores in our neighborhood and say to them, "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!"

How many more lives can we afford to lose before we seek to make a change? There was once a time when crack smoking was confined to what we know as crack houses because it wasn't easy to carry all of the necessary paraphernalia in order to achieve the "high" that is worth more than life itself to users. Now, thanks to "The Love Rose," addicts are now free to go wherever they choose, including your back yard and ultimately, your home.

We intend to stand as a unified front and insist that this product is IMMEDIATELY removed from all of the stores in our community. We fully intend to pull all our dollars away from any store that will value profit over the souls and lives of our people. On one accord, we now say with great resolve and conviction, "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!"