OUR STATE OF DRUGS

Virginia's Drug Arrests: Numbers Doubled Between 00 And 04 Virginia's War
On Drugs: Police Pessimistic About A Speedy Victory

Marijuana And Crack Cocaine Are The Top Illegal Substances Involved In
Arrests Across The State.

In less than four years, drug arrests in Virginia have increased by about
20 percent, from 23,181 in 2000 to more than 28,000 in 2004 - largely as a
result of increased marijuana and crack cocaine arrests, the Virginia State
Police report.

Peninsula police officers said the numbers reflect aggressive enforcement,
effective regional drug efforts and population increases.

But two Washington think tanks - the liberal Sentencing Project and the
conservative American Enterprise Institute - have published recent reports
questioning the nation's war on drugs, which costs the federal government
about $35 billion each year.

Among the findings:

* The number of incarcerated drug offenders continues to grow while there
is little evidence that prison or jail time reduces drug use, according to
the American Enterprise Institute's report "Are We Losing the War on Drugs?"

* The war on drugs is largely a war against marijuana, which now makes up
nearly half of all drug arrests, reports the Sentencing Project.

Local police and drug enforcement agencies said the rise in arrests
demonstrates success, not defeat. They said the drug trade becomes more
diversified each year as new dealers enter the market and replace those in
prison.

"A few years ago, a few open air markets were shut down," said Lt. Charlie
Braman, coordinator of the Colonial Narcotics Task Force, a group composed
of state police, Williamsburg and James City County police officers. "Now,
we have a batch of new dealers who have grown up."

In Hampton, drug arrests increased 33 percent from 2003 to 2004, mostly
because of increased marijuana and cocaine arrests, according to police
statistics. Cpl. Jimmie Wideman said the increased arrests reflect that
police are trying to become more effective and utilize their resources more
efficiently.

But Wideman said there's little reason to expect that increased arrests
will eradicate street drugs in Hampton.

"Drugs are the fact of urban life," he said.

DRUG GROWTH

During the last 20 years, billions in federal dollars have been invested in
state and local anti-drug programs, community policing efforts and mass
media campaigns to cut down on drug use.

Nationwide, drug arrests have grown steadily since the 1990s, from about 1
million arrests in the early 1990s to about 1.67 million in 2003, the most
recent year for which numbers are available from the FBI.

In Virginia, from 1994 to 2003, drug arrests grew by about 14 percent, said
James J. McDonough of the Department of Criminal Justice Services.
McDonough said peaks in arrests are often explained by changes in policy,
not booms in the drug market.

"If it is a priority, then a lot of what you see is attention paid to
arrests," McDonough said.

Marijuana arrests make up the bulk of drug cases in Virginia. But arrests
for other drugs have also grown significantly in the last four years, the
state police report. Arrests for crack cocaine have increased by 18 percent
since 2000 and arrests for cocaine have grown by 36 percent.

In Hampton, where most drug arrests are for possession of marijuana or
crack cocaine, arrests overall rose from 1,281 in 2003 to 1,618 in 2004 -
according to the most recent statistics available.

In neighboring Newport News, arrests have remained stable from 2000 through
2004, with an average of 1,228 each year.

Newport News and Hampton report arrests differently, officials said.
Newport News counts each drug offense once, even if there are multiple
charges. In Hampton, police count every offense separately, even if only
one person is arrested.

Newport News officials expect the number of drug arrests to increase
significantly next year, said Officer Harold Eley.

Under new Police Chief James D. Fox, Newport News has targeted known drugs
areas with more officers for short periods of time, "sweeping" the areas of
both dealers and users, Eley said.

"We're busy developing informants, getting community groups, holding
community meetings and forming crime watch coalitions," he added.

While Hampton and Newport News account for the majority of Peninsula drug
arrests, other agencies have noticed increases.

"We are still seeing a steady increase in marijuana, and we are starting
occasionally to see heroin, LSD and mushrooms," Braman said of James City
County.

Like other parts of the country, Virginia also faces a growing problem with
prescription drug abuse, said Don Lincoln, who supervises DEA special
agents in the Tidewater region.

Lincoln said they are trying to find the doctors who readily give out
prescriptions for drugs like OxyContin even when it is apparent that their
patients are addicts.

Interviews with addicts who went to doctors for their "fix" indicated "they
didn't want to get involved with dirtbag drug dealers," so they went to
certain physicians, Lincoln said.

TEAM OPERATIONS

Local and state police said increased numbers for arrests don't necessarily
indicate that drug abuse in Virginia is rapidly growing. Instead, they cite
the growing use of special multi-agency tasks force.

One recent example is Operation Blowfish, a long-term investigation that
resulted in arrests of 36 people accused of involvement in a multi-state
drug ring.

Agents from the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs
Enforcement, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Internal Revenue
Service's criminal division and the Peninsula Task Force - made up of local
police officers - investigated the case.

Officials said that starting in 1996 the drug ring moved more than 10,000
pounds of marijuana, 660 pounds of powdered cocaine and 44 pounds of crack
from Mexico through Texas and on to Hampton Roads and other areas.

The level of cooperation between agencies and police departments has
increased dramatically in recent years, the DEA's Lincoln said.

The communities with the biggest problems include Newport News, Portsmouth
and Norfolk, Lincoln said, but all of the area has a stake in the battle.

Police chiefs in various cities meet on a quarterly basis to discuss
investigations and share information, Lincoln said, because "it wouldn't be
unusual for someone to live in Norfolk but come to Portsmouth or Newport
News" to deal drugs.

Police said the results of Operation Blowfish also indicated that the drug
trade constantly evolves with players who aren't necessarily peddling drugs
on corners.

Police said that as long as selling drugs is profitable, new players will
enter the market. "There will always be that part of society that will use
something as an intoxicant," state police Sgt. D.S. Carr said. "I don't
think it will end tomorrow or within my lifetime."

Drug arrests in Virginia

Marijuana Crack Cocaine Heroin Amph./ Meth.

Total

2004 (breakdown not yet available) 28,124

2003 14,576 4,139 2,412 664 470 26,022

2002 14,312 4,183 2,177 738 332 25,244

2001 14,248 3,939 1,793 663 194 24,864

2000 13,559 3,532 1,766 635 203 23,181

Source: Virginia State Police