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Candidates outline approaches to drugs, staffing and jail treatment at Haywood County forum
Summary
Incumbent Bill Wilkie and challengers Mark Meese and Tyler Howell discussed drug enforcement, staffing and jail-based recovery programs; all three endorsed medically assisted treatment and emphasized career-track training and community relationships to improve outcomes.
Waynesville — At a Smoky Mountain News forum, the three candidates for Haywood County sheriff described overlapping and competing strategies to address drug-related crime, staffing shortages and in-jail recovery services.
Drug enforcement: Wilkie emphasized targeting major traffickers and credited technological tools and a crime-suppression unit with a steep rise in seizures. He argued that removing large suppliers reduces downstream street-level availability. Meese and Howell said enforcement must include community-level suppression and close partnerships with regional task forces such as DEA and…
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