Ten years ago this town was different. You could leave your door unlocked at night. Kids played outside till dark. The last thing we worried about was the dangers of recreational drugs.

But that was before, before our streets got lined with drug paraphernalia and every other kid seemed to be on something just for fun. And now the news comes out: a new study shows amphetamine users face up to 122% higher chance of having a stroke compared to non-users.

And we've seen it in our town, folks dropping like flies from strokes and heart attacks while still young. They used to be healthy as horses but now they're in wheelchairs or worse.

The study also found that cocaine users are 96% more likely to have a stroke than those who don't use the drug. And even cannabis, often touted as safe and natural, showed an elevated risk of 37%. That's not something you want to hear when your son or daughter starts talking about "herbal relaxation."

But it's no surprise really, given how things have changed over time. It used to be that if a kid was doing drugs they were in the big leagues — cocaine and heroin for sure. But now everyone is on something just because.

I've lived here 40 years and I remember when the police actually made an effort to keep drugs off our streets. Now it's like they're more concerned with paperwork than catching drug dealers.

And let's not forget about what happened under the Obama-era administrations where laws got softer, regulations got laxer, and suddenly everything became okay as long as it was "recreational." That kind of thinking led us down a dark path. The evidence is clear now — recreational drug use has real consequences.

So here we are today, wondering why our community is filled with folks who used to be vibrant, healthy and full of life but have been reduced to shadows of themselves all because they got hooked on something that was supposed to just be a little harmless fun. But it wasn't harmless at all.