DUNKIN' OWNER COULDN'T STAND DRUGS -- NOW ALL MUST STAND

Removes Tables And Chairs After Paraphernalia Repeatedly Found Inside

LOWELL -- Removing all the tables from a busy downtown shop is not a good
business move.

But to Dunkin' Donuts owner Brian Marino, neither is letting customers
relax at tables with drug needles stuck below them.

It was this tough choice that led Marino, who owns four Dunkin' Donuts
franchises in Lowell, to remove all the tables and chairs from his shop at
Merrimack and Central streets last week.

Marino, whose Westford Group owns a total of 13 Dunkin' Donuts franchises
between here and Worcester, said the downtown Lowell location has been
overrun by drug users in the past year or two, even though other shops have
not had such problems. After a fight broke out between suspected drug users
last Thursday, Marino took the drastic measure of hauling all the tables
and chairs out of the shop, for the protection of both customers and employees.

Marino has owned the downtown Lowell location for about 10 years now, and
said the problems started about two years ago.

"People come in, go to into the bathrooms and stash drugs in the suspended
ceiling, attach needles and paraphernalia behind the sink piping and
toilet, and they've also stuffed whatever remains of their packages and
stuff down the toilet," he said. He said employees often discover the
paraphernalia while cleaning the shop, and that a few have nearly been
stuck by needles, which have also been found stuck to the bottoms of tables.

He said he also recently had to move a drink cooler behind the counter
because people were constantly stealing drinks from it. When the problem
intensified about a year ago, Marino tried a few things, including locking
bathroom doors, but was told by the city's Building Department that the
move violated city codes.

He also, on the advice of police, posted signs in the shop allowing only
paying customers to sit at tables, and allowing no one to hang out for more
than 30 minutes. He said the signs enabled police to remove people whom
employees suspected of causing problems.

He also tried gradually to reduce the amount of seating available, and
installed security cameras aimed at the bathrooms.

None of it worked. And Marino is starting to think it may take more than
police to solve the problem.

He said he has no complaints about the way Lowell police have responded to
the problem. They have always been responsive to calls for help from
employees, and have maintained a visible presence in the area, he said. "We
call the police -- we call them constantly and they do respond, but the
problem is that you almost need someone standing there throughout the day,"
Marino said yesterday. "The police are doing what they can, but unless you
have someone there on guard all the time I don't know how to prevent (drug
users) from staying in there." He said removing the tables is sure to cost
him business, but the safety of his employees and customers has become a
greater concern -- especially since some drug users have reacted violently
to being asked to leave. "I didn't want to remove all of it. It was a hard
decision for me," Marino said. "If we get complaints you don't want to tell
customers it's an unsafe place to come in, so I thought to protect the
public and our own people this was the next place to take it." Marino said
he is also not sure what is causing the problem, since none of his other
Lowell shops nor shops elsewhere have had such problems to this degree.
Other downtown Lowell establishments contacted last night said they haven't
had such problems either, at least not on a large scale. Farooq Wardag,
manager of Kennedy Fried Chicken, less than a block from Marino's Dunkin'
Donuts, said he and his employees keep a close eye on bathrooms there, and
have turned some people away, but that there hasn't been a problem with drugs.

He has a security camera aimed at bathroom doors and has employees watch
who goes in and out, and how long they spend inside rather closely. He said
he is careful not to let drug problems enter the family restaurant. A woman
at the Green Bamboo Chinese restaurant just down the street in Kearney
Square also said they haven't had drug problems there. Police
Superintendent Edward Davis said that before last night he was not aware of
the severity of the problem at Dunkin' Donuts, and said it was "
regrettable" that Marino felt he had to remove the tables and chairs. Davis
said he planned to contact Marino and offer even more police assistance,
because he thinks there may still be something police can do. "I didn't
realize he was going to take such drastic action and I would have tried to
work with him to avoid that occurring," Davis said. "It's unfortunate that
a businessman has taken that kind of step." Davis said he is not sure "the
remedy will help the problem." Davis said police are aware of problems with
the homeless downtown, as well as students who flood Kearney Square in the
afternoon, and that officers have been working on those issues.

"There was no indication in my office that drugs were a problem up till
today, " Davis said.

He said he doubts Marino's theory that some of the drug users come from the
city Methadone Clinic, which is located quite a few blocks from the Dunkin'
Donuts. For his part, Marino is just hoping to solve the problem. He said
city police have even sent undercover officers into the shop to catch drug
users, but that he fears the problem has more to do with something that's
happened downtown, though he's not sure what.

"They've (police) caught them and arrested them but there's just so many of
them (drug users) it's amazing," Marino said. "I don't know what's changed
downtown that we can't control it.

"It's a big problem and there's not an easy solution to it," he said. "I
don't know what the answer is, but I can't stop these people from coming
into the establishment because we're open to the public."