Gomers -- What's going wrong

NO WAY TO MAKE A PROFIT: Iowa City has become a regional hot spot for juveniles buying synthetic drugs, say police. Several downtown businesses that are open long hours sell these dangerous substances, which are legal only because manufacturers exploit loopholes in federal regulations. An Iowa City substance abuse center's research shows more than 4 percent of adolescents surveyed said they are using synthetic drugs, often branded as incense. That's up from about 1 percent in 2012. What a sad, disgusting product for a business to even consider selling.

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KIDS, SOCIETY AT RISK: For the past decade, about 30 percent of all births in Iowa have been out of wedlock. In 1979, the figure was 9 percent. In 1959, it was 2 percent. This is a troubling trend, even in many cases where the decision not to marry is deliberate. Extensive research has shown that children of non-married parents generally don't fare as well in society and in school. Poverty is much more prevalent in those households, too, creating another major at-risk condition. The national out-of-wedlock rates have been similar and even higher than Iowa's in recent years.

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