The Warren County Drug Task Force has been busier than normal this year.

From January through June, the task force has made 41 arrests while seizing 3.625 pounds of methamphetamine, 49.5 grams of cocaine and 183 grams of fentanyl. This year’s arrests have included the seizure of 16 firearms, an automatic firearm and an explosive device.

Those numbers are the very definition of a good news, bad news situation.

Police are doing yeomanlike work trying to keep illegal drugs and weapons out of our county’s neighborhoods. The shift from bath sales and heroin to fentanyl and methamphetamine is troubling due to their potency, while it’s troubling to see illegal weapons seized in such high numbers.

We obviously must remain vigilant when dealing with illegal drugs. State officials should keep sentences stiff enough for those convicted of selling illegal drugs, or being caught with illegal weapons, to deter people from taking up the illegal drug trade.

But we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention that the task force’s work is really dealing with only one side of a two-sided issue. Policing deals with the supply side of the drug problem. But because there is growing demand for illegal drugs in rural counties like ours, new sellers pop up to take the place of the ones that are charged, convicted and sentenced to jail time.

We need to do more to deal with the demand for illegal drugs. Warren County has adopted medication assisted treatment in the Warren County Jail, a useful tool, in our opinion. It’s worth noting, too, that Forest Warren County Human Services meets monthly to discuss these issues. If the drug task force is busy, then Forest Warren County Human Services will be, too – because there would be no supply if there was no demand.