DRUG ARRESTS, SEIZURES RISE

Increase In Cases Indicates Police Agencies In Macomb Are Fighting An
Uphill Battle

ROSEVILLE -- Macomb County and Metro Detroit law enforcement and community
agencies are working to reduce the amount of illicit drugs available for
purchase.

While the sheriff's departments in Macomb and Oakland counties were able to
get 33 pounds of cocaine off the street with a bust last week in Roseville,
the war on drugs is far from over.

"It is a continuing problem that plagues us in law enforcement," said
Macomb County Sheriff Mark Hackel, who credited a multiagency task force as
a cost-effective way to fight.

Police departments in Macomb and other communities are dealing with drugs
such as cocaine, marijuana and the increasingly popular club drugs such as
GHB and Ecstasy.

To cut down on the supply on the street, the demand must be reduced, said
Susan Hiltz, executive director of the Prevention Coalition of Southeast
Michigan.

"The war on drugs is an over used-phrase," said Hiltz, who feels there
should be an emphasis on law enforcement, treatment and prevention. "It is
a health concern. ... No one wants to be an addict."

Law enforcement agencies say illegal drug use has led to a rise in other
crimes in recent years.

Sterling Heights has had a 12 percent increase through July in narcotics
investigations from 2001 -- far lower than the 48 percent increase between
2000 and 2001, police Lt. Gary Stanek said. He could not cite a cause for
the increases.

Stanek said he has noticed a change in the drugs that people are using.

Teens and young adults tend to abuse designer drugs and prescription drugs,
said Ken Krygel, an expert on drug and alcohol abuse at the Macomb Criminal
Justice Training Center for police training. He said high school kids favor
Ritalin and DXM, or dextromethorphan, a cough suppressant in more than 120
over-the-counter medicines, including Robitussin DM and Nyquil. College
students who abuse drugs tend to favor GHB and Ecstasy, he said.

Krygel found that as people get older, they switch drugs. People younger
than 30 abuse alcohol and marijuana while people 30 and older abuse
cocaine, heroin, marijuana and alcohol, he said.

Krygel said he speaks to school children and parents about the dangers of
drugs and abusing everyday products such as prescription medicine.

Through education, children and adults can learn to avoid drugs and turn
them down the first time they're offered by dealers on the streets, in
nightclubs or even over the Internet, he said.

"The first time is the hardest (to say no)," Krygel said.

Oakland County, which partnered with Macomb in the cocaine bust last week,
has issued about 1,300 drug cases a year for the past three years.

The exception was in 2000 when the county had an increase to 2,180 cases,
according to Jim Halushka, director of warrants and investigations in the
Oakland County Prosecutor's Office.

Despite the jump in 2000, Halushka is optimistic about the fight against drugs.

"We are not losing the war on drugs, that is a fallacy," Halushka said.

He cited recent U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency findings that only 5 percent
of Americans use illegal drugs.

(SIDEBAR)

Street slang glossary

* Bagman: Person who transports money; a person who supplies narcotics or
other drugs, a pusher.

* Clocker: Entry-level crack dealers who sell drugs 24 hours a day.

* Cluckers: Middlemen who bring buyers to sellers.

* Copping zones: Specific areas for buying drugs.

* Dinosaurs: Populations of heroin users in their 40s and 50s.

* Get-off houses: Private sites where addicts can buy and use heroin for a fee.

* Honeymoon: Early stages of drug use before addiction or dependency.

* Joy popping: Occasional use of drugs.

* Juggler: Teen street dealer.

* Klingons: Crack addicts.

* Kilo: 2.2 pounds.

* Macaroni and cheese: $5 pack of marijuana and a $10 bag of cocaine.

* Mule: Carrier of drugs.

* Old navy: Heroin.

* On ice: In jail.

* tar: Woman who trades sex for crack or money to buy crack; a person who
uses rock cocaine.

* Sextasy: Ecstasy used with Viagra.

* Sniffer bag: $5 bag of heroin intended for inhalation.

* Speedballing: To shoot up or smoke a mixture of cocaine and heroin;
Ecstasy mixed with Ketamine; simultaneous use of a stimulant and depressant.

* Sprung: Person just starting to use drugs.

* Thirst monster: Crack smoker.

* Wigging: Odd behavior resulting from drugs.

* Zonked: Extremely high.

* Zoomer: Individual who sells fake crack and then flees.

Source: Office of National Drug Control Policy

Drugs of choice

These are among the most prevalent illegal drugs in Metro Detrot and Michigan:

* Cocaine, which typically comes from the southwest border of the United
States, southern Florida, New York and Chicago.

* Heroin, imported from South America, Mexico and Africa.

* Methamphetamine, used mainly in western, southwest and central areas of
the state. Most production occurs in rural areas.

* Club drugs such as Ecstasy, GHB and Ketamine have gained popularity in
urban areas with young adults and juveniles.

* Marijuana, the most commonly available drug in Michigan, comes mainly
from Mexico.

Source: Drug Enforcement Agency