CRACK COCAINE KEEPS STEALTHY GRIP ON CENTRAL FLORIDA

Murder suspect Kenneth Williams was on a crack cocaine binge when
Deborah Fielding was killed in Orlando`s Langford Park this past
April, police say.

Ruth MacEachon, a Seminole County woman described by a neighbor as a
"sweet, spirited girl with a darling personality," was found dead in
the trunk of her burning car late last year after, police say, she
tried to buy crack.

Vicky is president of an elementary school PTA these days, but four
years ago she was selling her body and stealing to feed her addiction
to crack.

Central Florida`s crack cocaine problem is no longer a front-burner
issue. It has been replaced in importance by heroin`s comeback and the
surge of new designer drugs. Law enforcement concedes that it`s
spending less time on crack to focus on fighting other drugs.

But crack is continuing to destroy lives. In fact, statistics show
cocaine`s grip on Central Florida is stronger than that of heroin and
designer drugs combined.

"Crack cocaine is still a very severe problem and the drug of choice
in Florida," said Joyce Dawley, regional director of the Florida
Department of Law Enforcement.

Last year, the Orange County Sheriff`s Office filed 370 charges
related to the sale or possession of heroin and designer drugs such as
Ecstasy, LSD and GHB. But it filed more than four times as many
charges -- 1,647 -- in connection with all forms of cocaine, including
crack.

The Sheriff`s Office doesn`t break down its cocaine statistics to show
how many of the arrests are for powder cocaine vs. crack. But
sheriff`s Lt. Mike Miller said most drug arrests are for crack cocaine.

The virtual silence about crack is puzzling to Vicky, an
administrative assistant at the Center for Drug-Free Living in
Orlando. She asked that her last name not be use to protect her
family`s privacy.

"It made me feel like crack wasn`t as bad as the other drugs," the
37-year-old mother of two said. "[It`s] like it was OK to go back out
there."

But it isn`t.

Just ask basketball legend Julius Erving about what crack cocaine did
to his son Cory, who struggled with his addiction before his death at
the bottom of a Seminole County pond.

Some say racism is the reason for the change in focus.

"When white kids started dying from heroin and those other drugs you
heard a big blast from all the big agencies," said Eatonville police
Chief Bruce Henson.

He said crack is perceived as a "black drug" because it is frequently
sold in black neighborhoods. "Crack is more tolerated because of who
it affects."

But law officers and drug-treatment professionals say that although
many of Central Florida`s crack cocaine markets are in black
neighborhoods, the majority of crack cocaine users are white.

When crack burst on the scene in the mid-1980s, it caught many law
enforcement agencies by surprise.

"Law enforcement wasn`t ready," Dawley said.

Many departments decided they weren`t going to be caught off-guard
that way with heroin, Dawley said. They agreed to attack it head on.
And with the limited resources some agencies have, that meant taking
some of the attention away from crack and putting it on heroin.

Miller agrees the focus has strayed, but he doesn`t think race is the
reason. While crack can destroy lives, it usually doesn`t kill, he
said.

"People got tired of hearing about crack," he said. "Other drugs
popped up. The big draw with heroin was the overdose deaths. You don`t
really have that with crack."

Vicky never knew what hit her. There was no abuse in her home.
Religion and education were priorities. There was nothing to suggest
that she would fall victim to one the most addictive drugs in the world.

She left home in 1982 to study music education at Florida Memorial
College and was introduced to crack as a "party drug," just a little
something to help her have a good time.

"It was an instant addiction," she said. "You continue to look for a
high like that first high, but you can never find it."

Vicky said she hit bottom when she ran out of ways to manipulate and
trick people into helping her support her habit.

Sgt. Paul Hopkins of the Orange County Sheriff`s Office sees the
desperation up close every day. He patrols Sector 4, which includes
Orlando`s South Orange Blossom Trail and its infamous side streets
where crack houses are common.

"They`ve taken a lot of it indoors, or they use pager services now,"
Hopkins said, remembering the days when crack dealers were so
prevalent that it was nearly impossible to drive through some
neighborhoods without being offered the drug.

Street corner dealers are still out there, but they`re savvier
now.

"You can go up to the guy and tell him you need a twenty [$20 rock],"
he said. "He won`t have it on him, but he can take you to get it."

There`s not as much fighting for turf anymore either and not as much
killing over the drug, said Humberto Rapado, special agent supervisor
for the FDLE. The trade operates a lot more like a business these
days. Dealers have traded in `71 Pintos for sport-utility vehicles.

"They`re still flashy," he said. "But now the big guys wear business
suits."

The addicts, however, still look the same: jumpy and
desperate.

A recent night on the Trail had Hopkins searching several people for
crack tucked away in various body cavities. He knows the addicts`
secrets: Because the rocks are not water soluble, they sometimes keep
them in their mouths.

The groin area is another favorite hiding place, as are the insides of
shoes and pocket linings. But a flashlight and a willingness to do a
thorough search usually turns up the drugs.

This night, a suspect is pulled over after a traffic violation.
Deputies notice his throat moving up and down as if the man is
swallowing something.

Sure enough, he admits to swallowing a dime rock ($10 worth of crack
cocaine). Paramedics are called in, but he refuses to be treated. He
agrees to go into the crack house with undercover officers to make
additional buys so they have enough evidence to file charges against
the dealers.

Crack has invaded not only inner-city Orlando. These days, it is a
menace to smaller towns as well. Cory Erving was said to have
frequented Jackson Street in Altamonte Springs, where drug busts are
routine.

Crack arrests have been made at Tuskegee Street and Simmons Avenue in
Leesburg as well as Hill and Person streets in Kissimmee. Calhoun
Street and Katherine Avenue in Eatonville have had problems with crack
sales, too.

"This street was terrible," said Carl Carroll, 49, who has lived on
Katherine Avenue since he was in sixth grade. He led his
neighborhood`s fight against drug sales and was named the town`s
Citizen of the Year in 1999.

"The problem was so bad you`d have to call the police to get home," he
said, referring to the crowds the drug sales would draw. "It hasn`t
stopped completely, but you don`t see them out here as much now."

Carroll credits Chief Henson and his officers with making the
difference in his neighborhood. Last month, after aggressively
gathering evidence over a period of about 120 days, the Eatonville
Police Department made 12 arrests in a sting.

Sgt. Ron Carter said the town can expect more of the
same.

"It`s destroying our neighborhoods," he said. He has seen the
"euphoria, hazy need and physical demands" of crack addicts who can`t
deal with reality any longer. They roam the streets willing to steal,
prostitute themselves and commit other crimes to get a hit.

Nothing else matters, and when people lose their focus that way, the
fabric of the community starts to unravel, Carter said.

"It`s scary. It really is scary," said the FDLE`s Dawley. "We don`t
have the luxury of focusing on any one drug. Crack cocaine is
Florida`s continued challenge. We have to get a grasp on it."