Mayor Signs Proclamation For Red Ribbon Week

City of Ste. Genevieve Mayor Paul Hassler, police chief Eric Bennett and Ste. Genevieve County Sheriff Gary Stolzer shared some personal thoughts with members of Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) from both Ste. Genevieve and Valle Catholic high schools about the dangers of drugs and alcohol.

The group gathered on October 8 at Ste. Genevieve City Hall to witness Hassler sign the document proclaiming October 28 through November 1 as the 2019 “Drug Free Red Ribbon Campaign.”

“It’s just to be mindful and to know what drugs do to people,” Hassler said, “especially to young people. And you guys are being bombarded with it.”

Hassler, who also is associate pastor of Hope Church, has been heavily involved in the drug addiction and rehabilitation issue. He tied in Missouri’s new medical marijuana law and the likelihood of the state legalizing recreational marijuana down the road.

“A lot of confusing things are going to be asked,” Hassler said. “Of having medical marijuana and soon to be in many states, legalized [recreational] marijuana, which is a mind-altering drug.”

Hassler said he had just one question for teenagers.

“What’s going on in your lives that you have to alter your mind?” he asked. “What are you running from? I don’t do drugs or alcohol, and I live and love life. But there are some people who have problems going on in their lives, kids in homes and parents, because we live in turbulent times in our country.”

Drugs, he stressed, are “not the answer.”

See complete story in the October 16 edition of the Herald.

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