Friday Catchall: Whiskey, OK; but fentanyl, robo calls, no | The Daily Courier

The Friday Catchall:

• WHISKEY – I admit I do not drink, but it is confounding when people complain about our community events – last weekend’s Whiskey Off-Road mountain biking and this weekend’s Whiskey Row Marathon – being a bad influence.

They start in on social media with the name and graduate to the beer gardens (which are fenced off), all the while being held near a place named Whiskey Row – which is replete with bars and saloons. It does not stop there; the school district comes under fire for allowing events on the Mile High field downtown on weekends or during the summer.

I get the complaints; I hear you. I just don’t agree.

While I generally rail on our lawmakers for wasting time – you cannot legislate common sense, I’ve written before – this is one where we need to give the general public (and our youth) some credit.

That would mean when I raced bicycles as a teen, I would have been doomed to drink Coors beer because it was one of the major sponsors.

Oh, the horrors!

• FENTANYL – The Courier regularly localizes national stories, to let you know how they affect you. Since November, we have been publishing a series of articles and editorials about the synthetic opioid fentanyl – how it has killed young men locally, the arrests, convictions, what to watch for, and trends.

It was not a surprise when President Trump got involved. The Chinese government will add fentanyl-related substances to its list of controlled drugs from May 1, in a move aimed at curtailing the manufacturing and distribution of one of the world’s most powerful opioids, CNN reported earlier this month.

It was deemed a win for Trump, who tweeted: “This could be a game changer on what is considered to be the worst and most dangerous, addictive and deadly substance of them all.”

What disappointed me was watching “NCIS-Los Angeles” this past weekend, with the characters seeking a woman selling fentanyl. (Not pills, just fentanyl; it doesn’t really happen that way.)

I know Hollywood mirrors, chastises, even precedes/predicts, life and society’s ills; however, when a drug is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine and 30 to 50 times more potent than heroin, it is serious business.

Our lawmakers – state and federal – need to get in step with this effort too. Our children are dying!

As for television, portray something – but get it right, please.

• ROBO CALLS – Imagine 3 million robo calls a day, on a typical day. The FCC and others are struggling to block or prevent them, according to a Cronkite story on dCourier.com.

It gets worse. More than 4.9 billion robocalls were made in April, almost 89.7 million of which were made to Arizona numbers, according to YouMail, a call-blocking company. In April 2018, the numbers were 3.36 billion nationwide and 60 million in Arizona, YouMail said.

Like some people, if I don’t know the number I do not answer the phone.

It defeats the purpose of having a phone – cell or otherwise.

Regardless, be careful. Scams are lurking, err… calling.

• PICK OF THE WEEK – (Proving there’s always something good to do in the Prescott area that’s cheap or free): The 41st annual Whiskey Row Marathon on Saturday, May 4, with a 6 a.m. start for the marathon; 7 a.m., half marathon; and the 10k and 2-mile event just after 7, downtown on the courthouse plaza. There’s something about watching the thrills of victory – and people trying to complete one of the toughest races in the nation.

Tim Wiederaenders is the senior news editor for The Daily Courier and Prescott News Network. Follow him on Twitter @TWieds_editor. Reach him at 928-445-3333, ext. 2032, or twieds@prescottaz.com.