Series: Part 1:

COCAINE FINDS HOME IN NORTH BALTIMORE'S COLLEGE CAMPUSES

Photo Caption: According to the DEA supply of cocaine nationally has
decreased over the past 18 months. Prices have risen by 15 percent
per pre gram, making a typical purchase of cocaine well over $130.

Matthew Lindeboom contributed to this story.

"I wouldn't say cocaine is prominent on this campus right now," says
an upperclassman from Loyola College who wishes to remain anonymous.
"It is in a down period. We need more dealers on this campus. There
doesn't seem to be many."

He leans over his coffee table, plugs one nostril, and snorts in a
line of crushed Percocet through a rolled-up dollar bill.

Five minutes later the user receives a phone call and within 15
minutes a fellow student --a dealer-- enters the room. Twenty dollars
is handed to the dealer as they sit down at the table to measure up
the half gram of cocaine to be sold. Few words are exchanged and soon
enough, the dealer is out the door.

"I bought an 8-ball [3.5 grams of cocaine] about a month ago," he
says. "That [expletive] was gone in two days. I killed a [gram] this
Saturday alone."

Cocaine is finding its way onto the college campuses of North
Baltimore. Colleges like Towson University, Loyola College, and Johns
Hopkins University have become markets for drug traffickers who bring
cocaine into that region -- its final destination.

"Most trades are dealer to dealer, that's usually larger quantities,
but in terms of final destination it's headed north to the suburbs
and the colleges. They're the only ones who can afford the habit,"
said an officer in the Baltimore City Police Department with
knowledge of Baltimore's drug trafficking.

"The students on those campuses have the money to finance that kind
of habit," he said.

Director of Public Safety Tim Fox commented that he thinks there is a
small population of cocaine users on campus, which stays inconspicuous.

"In the last two to three years we haven't seen much in terms of
cocaine. The last major bust took place three years ago, and that
came from a silent tip," Fox said.

The cocaine seizure Fox mentioned occurred in Campion Tower in 2004,
but Campus Police and Student Life found only enough to classify the
amount as for "personal use." They did not find any indications of
distribution, such as large amounts of cash or bookkeeping information.

The source within the BCPD attributes the low visibility on college
campuses to "middle men."

"Traditional dealers aren't on campus. Nothing flashy, nothing
direct, there's usually middle men, students, and suburban kids
dealing. [It] cuts down on visibility and makes our job and law
enforcement's job more difficult. Bottom line: it's moving on
campuses," he said.

The upperclassman with his new half gram of cocaine leans back and
takes a hit from a joint of marijuana and says, "When I used to go to
parties there would be about 15 people doing [cocaine] out in the
open. They were really casual about it."

Despite the limited amount of cocaine incidents over the past three
years, Fox still believes "there's definitely a current."

Since Loyola's last cocaine bust in December 2004, the usage visually
has increased, as Fox mentioned, "it was a little more secretive in
the past. But I don't know if that veil is being let down because
there is more or less cocaine on campus."

LCPD Officer Dennis Cornwall commented on the openness of many Loyola
users, "I had a female tell me that she just wants to go to a ladies'
room at a York Road bar and not have somebody snorting a line of coke."

The "veil" which Fox refers to be let down at Loyola, simultaneously
compares to the dropping quantity of cocaine across the United
States. Drug Enforcement Agency figures show that the supply of
cocaine nationally has decreased within the past 18 months, while
domestic prices have risen by 15 percent per pure gram.

With these numbers, the expensive habit of using has forced students
to look elsewhere toward the dealers with the most quantity but also
the closest proximity.

Nearly a mile north on York Road from Loyola's Evergreen Campus,
dealers are looking for buyers on the street while buyers are on the
corners stretching their arms out as to hail for a cab, but tapping
their fingers downward, indicating their want of drugs. But local
areas, such as the York Road Staples store, have been cited as being
popular places for Loyola -- and now Towson University -- students to
buy not just marijuana or cocaine, but also heroin or crack.

"I've had people from Loyola ask me for heroin and I have flipped out
on them," said a York Road dealer who sells to Loyola students. "I
had a kid ask me for crack and I told him that I'm never going to
bring anyone down to that level, and I refused to sell to him."

On average per week, he stated he sells in total about a quarter to a
half ounce of cocaine (14.17 grams) to Loyola students alone, making
a week's worth of transactions equaling around $350-$800.

"The price of cocaine is definitely going up," said the dealer. "An
8-ball used to sell for around $100 and now people will sell it for $180."

One roommate of a user (who wishes to remain anonymous due to the
sensitive nature of her comments) stated, "She buys [cocaine] from
mostly students, but lately they don't have any to sell. Usually the
students selling on campus get it from York Road dealers, but now she
either gets it from York Road or from her dealers at home."

Fox's comments show a similarity, "the thing we see here [at the
Loyola Police Department], more than anything else, is when there is
an increase in usage it is because the students are going home for
[academic] break and going to their local dealer and then they are
coming back with it."

The York Road dealer stated that the consistency of students buying
cocaine from him and other dealers in the neighborhood is stable and
has been that way for years. He mentioned that Loyola students either
use or sell a good amount per week, while at Towson it is just as prevalent.

"I know a lot of people that sell to Loyola kids aside from me, so if
they aren't getting it from me or my friends, than I wouldn't be
surprised for them to get it from Towson," he said.

Even more, illustrating the relevant nature of cocaine in Baltimore,
just seven miles south of Loyola College, in Fell's Point, federal
agents seized multiple kilograms of cocaine and crack cocaine from
the home of Humberto Gasca and Josefina Quinonez, in December 2006.
The husband and wife duo had been supplying the Fell's Point
neighborhood, including its bars, since 2005. On Nov. 3, 2007, Gasca
and Quinonez were both convicted of possession with intent to
distribute and sentenced to 13 and 10 years, respectively. There were
13 other members of the drug syndicate who faced charges ranging from
possession of cocaine to selling false documentation.

"It's becoming more accepted [in society] and it is easier to get,"
said Fox. "And on top of that, the ability to get caught is fair less
than marijuana."

As for Loyola's campus, the significance of cocaine has been noticed
not only by students, but also faculty. Psychology professor Charles
LoPresto had learned of cocaine use anecdotally from members of
Student Life and the Health Center over the years and uses his
classroom as a forum for discussion of the prominence of the drug use
on campus.

He stated, "I always see heads nodding in agreement [from my
students] and it just makes sense when I look at this campus with
such conformity." LoPresto continued that he has never seen a reason
to doubt an assumption that there is cocaine use on campus from his students.

Part of that conformity which LoPresto mentioned was the added
pressure to be in the "in crowd," as well as other factors such as
academic standards to keep up with, being financially able to feed
such a habit and the pressure to look attractive.

The user finishes his joint and looks to break up another Percocet to snort.

He tucks his newly purchased cocaine away and sits back and says,
"Not many people seem to be doing [cocaine], but then again I used to
do it with people who have [now] graduated. I don't know about the
all the classes, maybe they are. It wouldn't surprise me at all."