A drug summit being held in the Upper Peninsula this fall will be a much needed chance for several different police agencies to come together to combat a growing problem happening right here in the Marquette area.

Registration is being taken for the Sept. 16 Meth and Opioid Drug Education Summit hosted by the U.P. office of Sen. Carl Levin, D-Detroit, and several federal, state and local agencies.

Representatives from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Forest Service, the National Guard Midwest Counterdrug Training Center, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Marquette Women’s Center and other state and federal agencies will discuss drug-related topics during the daylong conference.

There is a growing meth problem in the central U.P. Ask any person involved in law enforcement in Marquette County. It is a scourge on the community and responsible for destroying not just the lives of people that make it and use it, but their families as well. And we’re all left to foot the bill after these meth users are caught and sentenced to years in state prisons.

We hope this drug summit opens lines of communications between the different agencies that will be represented, offering a more streamlined and effective way to combat the devastating problem that is meth use.