DRUG WARRIORS: SOME PUSH COMMON SENSE ASIDE

We have our war on terrorism and our war on poverty.

But never have so many innocent people been injured than through our war on
drugs.

Day after day people go to jail, families lose their bread winners, wives
lose their husbands, children lose a parent and families disintegrate.

I'm not talking about the person caught with a pound of cocaine, an ounce
of cocaine, a gram of cocaine or even just enough for one last snort.
Forget about people caught selling drugs, both illegal and prescription.

Forget about people giving out prescription painkillers to friends. Oops,
the Sheriff's Office already taught us that one.

Those arguments have been made.

But what can begin to overwhelm a person is if you stop and look at the
number of cocaine and methamphetamine and marijuana arrests made in this
state, and right here in Bay County, based on residue.

I'm talking about an officer pulling someone over and finding a pipe with
no drugs, but residue on the screen inside the pipe. Scrape it out with a
knife and test it. I'm talking about easily obtained search warrants
purportedly in search of ounces and pounds of drugs that instead turn up a
spot on a mirror - that's been sitting there for God only knows how long -
with just enough residue to test positive for cocaine.

I'm talking about cases that weren't made when I was a young reporter who
spent a lot of time riding with the cops in the mid 1980s. It amounted to a
misdemeanor charge of possession of drug paraphernalia back then.

There are two sides to every story, too. Those being hurt aren't just the
family members of those arrested, but the people who are robbed and whose
homes are burglarized by crackheads desperate for more of the drug.

I present no solution, but will lay out the problem.

For decades police were used to finding people with marijuana pipes with
residue, a misdemeanor. Then, in the mid 1980s, crack appeared.

"Crack cocaine is about the worst thing that's happened to this country,"
said a veteran officer who has worked everything from traffic and
burglaries to narcotics and homicides. "You've seen it. I've never met a
recreational user of crack cocaine. They will lie, steal, rob and do what
they have to do for that drug.

"It changed things."

So crack pipes appeared. Somewhere about 12 to 15 years ago someone figured
out that if you scraped the remnants out of that pipe, that if you dropped
the test liquid on that plastic bag, you could get a positive reaction for
the presence of cocaine. And you could chalk up another felony arrest.

Most officers will argue all day long that drug possession is drug
possession and to heck with the amount. The presence of drugs in your
blood? Possession.

Let me also add that I know officers who'd rather not make a possession
case against someone found with only a residue-stained pipe. And I know
prosecutors who'd rather not fool with such cases.

But cops who have worked the streets long enough make a case of their own.

"The people you're dealing with are hooked," the veteran officer said. "If
they're hooked, you know they're going to be involved in crimes to support
their habit at some point. So if we can catch them with a crack pipe and it
shows cocaine, we're going to arrest them.

"It's like a murder or a robbery," he continued. "We don't have to see it
happen. We build a case based on the evidence.

"They may be victims at the time they originally smoke the stuff, but once
they become hooked, if it takes an arrest to give them a wake-up call or
get them help, that's what we do. You wouldn't believe the number of people
who call us up trying to find a way to get help for loved ones who are
addicted and committing crimes to support their habits."

Then there's Ted. It's not his real name, because like most everybody else
he's afraid of what will happen to him if he publicly challenges the
officers who arrested him. Court, by the way, is one place Ted knows he
will have no refuge. The law is the law and the test was positive and next
is probation and if he botches that with a DUI or by failing to follow all
the guidelines, he'll get a free pass to the Bay County Jail.

Ted called because he's upset. And Ted made some sense.

He was in a hotel room when police arrived with a search warrant. Entry was
made and Ted was detained. A thorough search of the room turned up a small
piece of plastic, like part of a baggie. Inside the baggie was a residue of
some sort. Not enough to ingest, but a sign that something had been there.

The plastic tested positive for the presence of cocaine, and Ted went to
jail on a felony charge. He has a public defender, who is overburdened
because of cases like this.

Ted said he doesn't know where the piece of plastic came from, it's a hotel
room and he was simply renting it.

Let's assume that every now and then the Teds of this world are telling the
truth. Some are, you know. Who would've believed Rodney King if not for the
video? Few people like Ted will find an acquittal at the end of their journey.

"I can't believe they're spending all this money on a new state attorney's
office and they're wasting taxpayers' money on prosecuting me for something
like this, especially when I didn't do it," he said. "I lost my job over
it. Six people will have to leave their jobs to sit and judge me."

"I'd understand it if there were actually drugs in the room, but this was a
piece of plastic," he continued. "Who knows where it came from? Hell, I'd
want them to put me in jail if I had a bunch of drugs."

I guess it all depends on whose eyes are viewing it. Ted sees police
picking on him for a "Mickey Mouse" charge. The police see someone who is,
technically and legally, in possession of a drug that they know usually
leads to multiple crimes that they end up having to deal with.

The courtroom sees another defendant.

And another family says goodbye for a while.

And we tend not to pay attention until it happens to someone we know.

And there are no easy answers.