How to Promote a Drug-Free Neighborhood

Some people think that drugs are only prevalent in the inner city or low income neighborhoods. However, it doesn't matter if you live in the city or the suburbs, no community is granted permanent immunity from drugs and drug dealers. Yet, there are various ways to make your neighborhood safe. Years ago, several neighborhoods across the country came together and established neighborhood watch programs designed to keep the community safe from child abductors and thieves. Today, many communities have taken neighborhood watches a step further, and work to keep their streets drug-free

Here are a few tips on how to establish a drug-free neighborhood.

- Form a neighborhood watch committee. For a program to be successful there must be several people willing to fight for the cause. Keeping the streets drug-free takes a lot of work and time. The people on the committee must be prepared to attend city council meetings, arrange community awareness events, and so forth.

- Arrange monthly community meetings. Once a month, host a community or neighborhood meeting. These meetings are designed to keep neighbors up-to-date on the progress and to inform every one of upcoming events. This also affords the opportunity to listen to suggestions. During the meeting, recruit different neighbors to patrol the streets and keep an open eye for suspicious activity.

- Get the police involved. There is nothing wrong with arranging a neighborhood watch program to reduce drugs activity. However, neighbors should never take matters into their own hands. Before establishing a watch program, get the police involved. Contact your local police department and let them know your intentions. In many cases, the police are eager to work with neighborhoods, and even make appearances at monthly committee meetings.

- Get the city involved. One of the best ways to make the streets safer and drug-free is to clean up the area. For example, if a particular street is very dark, ask the city to add brighter street lights, and maybe remove graffiti. Neighbors can spruce up a community by making sure that the community park is litter free, and perhaps plant colorful flowers in the playground and common's areas.

- Use signs, posters, and banners to increase awareness, and maybe deter drug activity. Drug dealers and individuals who use illegal drugs don't want to get caught. If a community is heavily patrolled and has a strong police presence - they'll leave the neighborhood.