by ohiocowboy 31 Replies latest social current
Ohio
This problem is bigger than you can take on. I live close to Vancouver, and the suburbs are crawling with it too. They are calling us the meth capital of Canada here. You can't find a city without it now , but you can definitely find a better apartment in a safer neighborhood. Doesn't have to be more expensive. Sometimes, just a more family oriented neighborhood helps.
Cog
Meth is an epidemic that is ravaging the united states. You wouldn't believe how many lives it is affecting. I lived with some recovering meth addicts in Portland. I believe when I was there Portland was at that time the meth capital, I couldn't go through downtown without being asked whether I was "looking" or not. Kids at 15, 16 look sickly and completely distraught. Meth kills. When I lived in Venice Beach a next door neighboor cooked his own meth he eventually died. Stay away from the shit. Jonathan
Move as soon as possible the police won't be able to help and your landlord obviously won't be able to.
I used to live in a building like yours in Vancouver, the addicts moved in to the apartment next to ours. We started to find needles everywhere, I made the mistake of returning the addicts kitten to her which made her think we were pals. Until the day I came upon her on her hands and knees tweaking out in front of her door. Apparently I wasn't "friendly" enough and she started slipping nasty notes under my door. We also couldn't open our door because we never knew who was on the other side, our apartment got mistaken for theirs all the time. My boyfriend worked nights so I was left alone shouting at a junkie thru the door that he wanted next door not this one.
The night they became dealers was surreal, expensive and shiny car pulls up at 3 in the morning, guy gets out flashing his gun at his hip, as they open the trunk we can see it's stuffed with nice neat little white packages that get unloaded and brought up the stairs past my door and into their's next door.
We moved the next week.
You deserve better then where you are at, tell your landlord you are moving and will be getting your deposit back or you're taking her to court for supporting the drug problem in your building.
Dams
CJ,
Sorry things haven't gotten any better. I think the best solution would be to move, too. If she won't return deposits -- tell her you'll take her to Small Claims court, this could cause embarrassment and unwanted attention to the complex owners -- which could be a good thing. The next step I would take would be to contact an 'Investigational Reporter' from a local TV station. They will let you stay an 'unknown' in the story. The Law Enforcement folks just hate bad PR on TV when they are caught not doing their jobs.
I hope something works out -- even if you end up losing your deposits.
Your friend, Rabbit
((((((((((CJ))))))))))))
Ice is an issue in almost every community, some more obvious than others. My home state Hawaii, has MAJOR ice issues and it's really killing the young community. It's highly, highly addictive. It's one of those that a kid just can't allow himself to be curious about...one try and you're hooked.
You need to find another apartment complex dear. I know you can find a nicer place without such obvious drug issues anyways. If you need some help, let me know and I'll see if I can help you scout some places.
Be safe.
Andi
If you need some help, let me know and I'll see if I can help you scout some places.
Wow what a nice gesture!
Sorry that you a living in such an unhealthy environment.
Call legal aid in you county and get some advice about breaking your lease. I am pretty sure that you have grounds to break your lease legally, get your deposit back, and maybe even moving expenses.
I know you probably feel bad for your landlord, but you have got to think about your own saftey.
Get the leagl advice you need and get away fromt here as soon as you can.
CJ, you need to get out of there. It sounds to me like your landlady is on drugs as well and THAT'S scary.
Let's talk on Saturday about where you can move to, even if it's a temporary solution.
My pharmacist, who reluctantly locked up all of the Sudafed behind the counter, told me that meth is a problem EVERYWHERE because it's so easy to make. And now, since pharmacies are locking up the Sudafed (and creating lots of problems for us sinus sufferers!), the drug dealers are importing the stuff from Mexico. We had a SWAT team shootout in south Dallas last week -- nice-looking house too -- and several people were arrested and lots of drugs were confiscated.
Hang in there and don't give up on Dallas, 'kay?
Nina
OC,
WOW this sucks. Start laying a case for moving out. Forget this 'talking' shit. Write letters to the Police Captain for your neighborhood. Send it certified. Inform him of the number of complaints you have lodged. Then carbon copy the top prosecutor in your county, and the Attorney General.
If I were you, and she wanted to play hardball by not giving me back my deposit, play back. Ask her to break the lease IN WRITING for April 1. Do it now. Tell her you have found another place for April 1. Be super sweet. Then don't pay March's rent. There's your magical deposits.
In the meantime, bust out your camcorder and start filming (be careful!!!) all of this activity.
We have called the police on several occasions, yet most of the time they never even show up, and if they do, it takes anywhere from 1-3 hours to arrive.
Welcome to the wonderful world of living in the hood. Inner city families (read : poor) have been dealing with this for YEARS. Where my husband grew up in the South Bronx, he knew people who lived in housing complexes. One or two drug dealers could ruin the entire building, and those people really did not have resources to move.
We never seem to care about drugs in the inner city, perhaps falsely believing "that's where they belong" but not every poor person is a criminal or druggie. I remember being a young teen and hearing about this new drug "crack" on the news.
Ice has destroyed Hawaii too, by the way. It's not just the poor people that moved to Texas from Katrina. http://starbulletin.com/2003/09/07/news/story2.html This story was published in 2003, years AFTER ice first made its less than illustrious debut in Hawaii. It's the story of an Attorney who got addicted.
Lisa
"We've had an ice problem since the 1980s, and the rest of the country has only had it for a few years," said Larry Williams, director of The Salvation Army's Addiction Treatment Services.Hawaii has been at the forefront of meth use in the country, Williams said, but it has suffered when it comes to getting federal help. For years, the federal government has focused on marijuana eradication in Hawaii and ignored the meth problem, he said.
