STREET TREND: THE GRIP OF CRACK COCAINE

FREEPORT - Crack cocaine, the scourge of urban ghettos, has made its
presence felt in Stephenson County. Arrests are on the rise and
multiple policing agencies are conducting stings regularly to stamp
out what police call the most prevalent drug in Freeport.

Cocaine arrests have steadily risen in Stephenson County since 2001,
according to Freeport Assistant Chief of Police Robert Smith. Forty
arrests were made in 2005, compared to 17 in 2002. And so far in
2006, there are already 30 arrests on the books. Many of those
arrests are for the more inexpensive version of the drug - crack cocaine.

"We are making a lot of arrests for crack cocaine. A lot of them. And
arrests are for production and consuming. Crack cocaine does seem to
be the drug of choice here. Its prevalence has always been pretty
high here," Smith said.

Three more arrests were made in Freeport Thursday by the State Line
Area Narcotics Teams. Authorities allege that one of those arrested
is a major player in the local crack cocaine scene. Albert L. Watson,
55, of Freeport, was taken into custody and charged with two counts
of manufacturing with intent to deliver between 1 and 100 grams of
cocaine or a cocaine derivative.

"We're always trying to establish cases and trying to get the
significant dealers. Watson wasn't a 'little fish' in the pond, he
was capable of getting sizable quantities of crack for the area. He
was capable of getting a fairly significant amount," Meiborg said.

At the time of his arrest, Watson was on parole after serving five
years of an eight-year sentence for a similar drug charge. He was
being held in the Stephenson County Jail. His bond is set at $450,000
for two counts.

Undercover police from SLANT arrested Watson on Spring Street near
the intersection of Adams Avenue on Thursday morning.

SLANT Master Sgt. Fay Meiborg said Watson allegedly was negotiating a
deal on the street corner prior to the arrest and already had
outstanding warrants, and was alleged to have made prior rock cocaine
sales to undercover officers.

Freeport Police Department has a representative assigned to SLANT,
Meiborg said.

According to the Maryland-based National Institute on Drug Abuse
(NIDA), in 2004, the last date data is available, there were 467,000
crack users nationwide.

What is crack?

Cocaine, which is actually benzoylecognine, is a strong central
nervous system stimulant extracted from the leaves of the coca plant
that causes euphoria when ingested - either through sniffing a
powdered form, smoking a rock form or injecting a liquid form.

Use of cocaine inhibits the body's buildup of dopamine and causes a
continuous stimulation of neurons, which leads to a temporary
euphoric feeling after its ingestion.

"Crack" is cocaine that has not been neutralized by an acid. This
form of cocaine comes in a rock crystal that can be heated and its
vapors smoked. It became popular in the United States in the 1980s.

The term "crack" refers to the crackling sound heard when it is
heated, according to the NIDA.

Smith said users are often identified by burns on their mouths and
fingers because they typically inhale its vapors through a hollow
piece of metal, such as a segment of car antenna.

He said police can note users by other physical symptoms as well
including agitation, incredibly alert behavior and excitability.

Pupils are often constricted. And crack users frequently have trouble
sleeping, Smith said.

Crack's popularity is largely due to its more attractive price point
in comparison to regular cocaine. A pea-sized rock of crack cocaine
can be purchased for about $20, he said.

According to information from the National Drug Intelligence Center,
crack is produced by dissolving powdered cocaine in a mixture of
water and ammonia or baking soda, which is then boiled until a solid
forms. The solid is them removed, often by inserting a string in the
liquid, Smith said.

Crystals - or rocks - are then removed and used.

A rock of pure crack is pearl-white in color and can be any size or shape.

An addictive drug

In Illinois in 2004, 16,372 people age 12 and over sought help for
cocaine problems at treatment facilities.

Nearly 50 percent of those admitted were between the ages of 36 and
45, according to a report from the federal Office of Applied Studies,
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, an agency
of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

According to the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), there were more
cocaine-related emergency department mentions in Chicago than any
other city monitored by the program for the third consecutive year.

Crack cocaine is cheap, easy to manufacture, and is portable. And
while cognitive ability is affected, police say it contains no
physically addictive properties. The euphoria from its use, however,
lasts only a few minutes. Experts say the desire of a user to
maintain a "high" leads to repeated use of the drug.

It becomes a psychological compulsion, Smith said.

Where does Freeport's cocaine come from?

Much of the cocaine in the United States is smuggled from South
America, Smith said.

While he cannot be certain of the exact trafficking route to
Freeport, he said police believe cocaine is transported to Chicago
and then, often, directly to Freeport.

"Many people who live in Freeport moved here from Chicago. They know
people in Chicago who are in the business there and they have a ready
supply from there," Smith said.

In fact, according to the federal Drug Enforcement Agency's Chicago
office, Mexico-based drug trafficking organizations move metric-ton
quantities of cocaine from the southwest border to the Chicago Field
Division on a regular basis.

"In 2004, a large cocaine trafficking organization based in Mexico,
with a large Chicago presence, was dismantled as part of 'Operation
Money Clip.' In Chicago, the investigation resulted in seizures of
nearly 140 kilograms of cocaine, a kilogram of heroin, nearly three
tons of marijuana and more than $350,000," according to the DEA.

Brokers arrange for transportation at the southwest border and then
travel to the Chicago area to oversee the delivery to local cells.
Chicago serves as a distribution hub, supplying other cities
throughout the Midwest and as far east as New York City, according to the DEA.

Crack use crosses all demographic and racial lines in Freeport, Smith said.

"There are lots of people (in Freeport) who use crack cocaine," he said.