DRUG ARRESTS SHOW USERS AREN'T ALWAYS DOWN-AND-OUT

People with six-figure salaries and high-powered jobs are among those
netted in the U.S. Department of Justice's recent Drug Demand Reduction
Initiative, according to Kevin O'Connor, the U.S. attorney for Connecticut.

"Some of the people we arrest have very successful careers," he said.

O'Connor declined to comment on the specific backgrounds of the 30 people
arrested earlier this month in a crackdown on an alleged Stamford-based PCP
and crack ring.

Along with 18 alleged dealers and distributors arrested March 5, there were
eight Greenwich residents charged with attempting to buy drugs. All were
between the ages of 35 and 48.

"There is no one type," O'Connor said. "There are quite a few people who've
done a wonderful job of masking their drug use or addictions."

One of those charged in the recent round of arrests was a Greenwich man who
owns a chain of auto body shops in Fairfield County, O'Connor said.

Six of those arrested live in the Riverside section of Greenwich, several
of them on quiet streets lined with one- and two-story houses near the Post
Road. Another person charged lives in Byram and the last near downtown Old
Greenwich. Most are homeowners, according to town records. The Connecticut
part of the federal demand-side reduction effort was initiated in August
2003 and is a joint program between the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Haven
and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency to investigate and prosecute drug
buyers, particularly those who travel to urban areas to buy drugs, O'Connor
said.

"One of the things that happens in urban neighborhoods is suburban users
coming in to buy drugs either to use or take home," O'Connor said. "We hope
this serves as a wake-up call that you can't help create the demand without
risking prosecution."

Two former Greenwich residents have pleaded guilty under the initiative in
the past year, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

In April, Rondy Murphy, 41, pleaded guilty to attempted possession of
heroin and was sentenced to two years' probation and continued drug
treatment and counseling at his own expense, a $1,000 fine and $500 for the
expenses of the investigation, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. In
October, Mary Hobby, 40, pleaded guilty to crack cocaine possession and
received two years probation and was fined $1,000.

Directors of drug treatment facilities at Greenwich Hospital and
Stamford-based LMG Programs said they frequently treat patients who can to
some extent contain the personal and professional ruin that drugs can cause.

John Hamilton, executive vice president for clinical services at LMG, said
families and employers sometimes force drug users into treatment or
counseling. The group has eight residential and outpatient drug treatment
facilities in Fairfield County.

Some abusers can limit their drug use to weekends or when socializing.
"It's when they break their own rules it is a sign that things have gone
really awry," Hamilton said.

Dr. George Ubogy, an addiction medicine specialist at Greenwich Hospital
and medical director of its Recovery Program, said that users of illegal
drugs who are successful and able to function relatively well are not uncommon.

Those whose illegal drug use persists into their 30s and 40s probably began
using drugs in their adolescence and might return to them when faced with
some type of problem, Ubogy said.

Drug treatment specialists have been noticing a resurgence of cocaine use
by white-collar workers, Hamilton said, and marijuana use among adults is
more common than ever.

Detective Sgt. Timothy Duff, of the Greenwich Police Narcotics Squad, said
detectives sense there is more drug activity in Greenwich. He declined to
specifically discuss illegal drug use among middle-aged residents, saying
it might reveal police tactics to detect illegal drug use.

Philip Russell, a Greenwich-based defense attorney, said he has in the past
represented drug users who are "high functioning" and show few outward
signs of being on drugs.

"It's important to remember that what is driving the narcotics industry is
primarily working people with the earning power to maintain a recreational
or casual drug habit," Russell said. "It's hard to paint drug users with
one brush because they come from every economic, racial, and social strata."