Once again, we find ourselves frustrated with New York state’s softness on those who willingly break some of our most basic laws.

A drug raid last week on Forest Avenue resulted in charges against 12 Jamestown residents – a few of whom have been in and out of the criminal justice system for years. It has to be frustrating for police to be dealing with many of the same people as they deal with the scourge of illegal drugs on city streets. It has to be particularly frustrating for some of those who were charged to have been charged in relation to a past shooting or in dealing drugs from the same house six years ago as part of Operation Meltdown, a drug conspiracy ring that was bringing methamphetamine from Mexico to Jamestown. Those charged six years ago, and again last week, weren’t involved in bringing the drugs from Mexico, but they were selling those drugs locally.

Neighbors knew what was happening at 70 Forest Ave. They weren’t surprised when the Jamestown Police Department SWAT team showed up on their street. Perhaps the only surprise is that there was a tie to the infamous Operation Meltdown bust.

The way we have handled drug sale cases leaves far too many who choose to sell illegal drugs feeling emboldened to continue selling even when they have had every opportunity to be scared straight by an FBI investigation and opportunities to go through treatment.

Diversion programs can be a true lifesaver for those who take their interaction with the criminal justice system as a wake-up call and an opportunity to change the direction their lives have taken. But those who don’t take advantage of that opportunity need to face an appropriate punishment. We see the damage drugs are wreaking on our society. As we noted in Saturday’s edition, we need additional treatment options for those who need help. And we reiterate our opinion today that those convicted of dealing drugs multiple times, or those who are found selling drugs while awaiting trial for a previous drug-related arrest, need to face harsher punishments.