POT USE, ARRESTS INCREASE IN IOWA

Marijuana Arrests, Use Increase

A treatment expert in Ames says marijuana smoking rose when meth use
'became more dangerous.'

Marijuana arrests in Iowa increased 41 percent from 1995 to 1999, according
to state crime statistics, and treatment centers say more clients are using
the drug.

Janet Zwick, director of the state Division of Substance Abuse and Health
Promotion, said the percentage of clients who reported marijuana use jumped
from 11 percent in 1994 to 20.9 percent in 2000.

"We've seen sort of a gradual increase in marijuana use," she said.

Central Iowa drug officials seized a record 100 pounds of marijuana last
year, said Capt. John Tinker, director of the Central Iowa Drug Task Force.

"I don't know if people are moving away from some of the harder stuff and
moving into use of marijuana because it's less addictive or what," Tinker said.

Methamphetamine possession and use arrests dropped 14 percent between 1995
to 1999, according to the Iowa Uniform Crime Report. The total number of
methamphetamine arrests statewide in 1999 was 1,403, compared with 6,776
marijuana arrests.

David Sahr, executive director of the Center for Addictions Recovery in
Ames, said marijuana use increased when methamphetamine "became more
dangerous."

Sahr said 50 percent of the center's clients reported using marijuana last
year, compared with 36 percent in 1999.

Sahr said methamphetamine users might be responsible for the increase.
"What we picked up from our clients is that, if they got too high (on
methamphetamine), they would smoke marijuana," he said. "The two seem to go
hand in hand."

Sahr also said former methamphetamine users often continue to smoke marijuana.

Zwick said most marijuana users are 19 to 35 years old, although others
said younger users are becoming more common.

"We see people using drugs younger and younger," said Chris Akers, Johnson
County narcotics task force detective.

"Marijuana is the number one drug used in Iowa City," he said. "There's no
shortage of it. . . . I could work 24 hours a day and I still would
probably not make a dent in the drug trade."

Some state legislators said money would be better spent on treatment.

"The way we are fighting the war on drugs is a massive waste of money and
is failing to create safer communities where people make responsible
decisions about drug use," said Sen. Joe Bolkcom, D-Iowa City.

"Taxpayers should be outraged at the money we are wasting in our failed
efforts to prevent drug abuse," he said. "We have created a massive
criminal justice problem instead of solving a public health problem."

Sen. Johnie Hammond, D-Ames, agreed the state should focus on treatment for
heavy users of marijuana rather than putting them in jail.

"Other drug courts are finding that it's quite successful to avoid lockup
and to have intensive treatment programs," she said.

Mark Hein, resident-in-charge of the federal Drug Enforcement
Administration in Des Moines, said an increase in use is a huge concern.

"All these people using marijuana is not a good thing for the state of
Iowa," he said. "I don't think they realize how harmful that really is."

Hein attributed the increase to drug organizations that sell more than one
drug. The DEA has busted more organizations recently for dealing
methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana, he said.

A pound of marijuana today costs between $650 to $1,000, Des Moines police
said.

Hein also blamed the organizations that are pushing for the legalization of
marijuana. "There are all of these people today pushing legalization," he
said, "and I think that's having an effect."

Carl Olsen, spokesman for the Iowa chapter of the National Organization for
Reform of Marijuana Laws, advocated the legalization of marijuana.

He said arresting, prosecuting and imprisoning users is "a total waste of
money and everyone knows it, except for the people who still think that
marijuana is worse than alcohol."