LAW ENFORCERS, COMMUNITY DISCUSS DRUG PROBLEM

Narcotics in Midland affect people of all ages and backgrounds and
there is a greater increase of use among males, said Lt. Seth Herman
of the Midland Police Department's special investigations division.

Herman was one of several guest speakers at a Monday night public
forum discussing illegal drugs in the Midland community.
Representatives from the Midland County Sheriff's Office were also
present at the gathering at the Martin Luther King Center.

The forum was held "to make our community aware of illegal drug
activity" and to introduce the public to resources to help eradicate
the problem, said Gabriel Dye, chairman of the Midland Crime
Prevention Commission that sponsored the event.

Herman said that between 1999 to 2000, he personally was involved in
500 narcotics investigations. That number has at least doubled so far
this year, he said.

"There are four officers in the narcotics unit and they're working 24
hours a day, seven days a week, just like the sheriff's office,"
Herman said. "If we were to fill the unit with 200 officers, it would
still not be enough because of the demand for drugs is so great."

Midland Police Department Chief John Urby and Midland County Sheriff
Gary Painter were among the audience members. About 90 to 95 percent
of all property crimes are tied to drugs, Urby said.

"Drugs is a big concern, but it's not the only concern," Urby said.
"We have property crimes, disturbances, we have traffic issues,
patrol issues and that's a big thing," he explained. "Drugs is not
the only thing on our radar."

Herman said the major narcotics in the Midland-Odessa area are
marijuana, powder cocaine, crack cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine,
which are problems that extend beyond Midland-Odessa.

"There's no difference between this town and any other town in the
United States," Herman said. From the smallest to the largest
metropolitan city, drugs still remain to be an issue within
communities, he added.

Among the list, methamphetamine poses as a main concern mostly
because it's toxic in production, cheap to manufacture and its
laboratories, which can be costly to clean up, Herman said. However,
production labs have gone down in the U.S. in about the last two
years because of the restrictions on precursor materials, he added.

Painter said there currently are two deputies working narcotics cases
and that 90 to 95 percent of crime that occurs in the county is
directly related to alcohol and narcotics.

"It's something the officers are fighting a real battle on the
streets and it's the city, the county and the feds," Painter said.
"It's pervasive and it's all over our community. Narcotics are here."

Slogans and campaigns today now show the consequences of using drugs
in comparison to in the past, which focused on prevention, Herman
said. There's also educational efforts, such as Red Ribbon Week,
which begins Wednesday. It's a consorted effort among all law
enforcement agencies and educators to inform students about the
dangers of drugs, Herman said.

The best tool in eradicating illegal drugs in the community is the
public. "We can't do it all. You have to be our eyes and ears,"
Herman said to the crowd. "Now's the time when we have to stand up."

Midlander Tammy Armstrong learned from the session about the various
descriptions of drugs and their methods of use. She thinks it would
be a great benefit for people to attend the crime prevention
commission's next forum, tentatively scheduled for the end of next January.

"The way to fix the problem is to inform," she said. "You can't pull
ideas if you don't address it and everybody has ideas and they're
good" and they're needed, Armstrong added.