NO END IN SIGHT FOR 'WAR ON DRUGS'

More than 30 years after President Richard Nixon declared a "war on
drugs," the battle wages on with no end in sight and casualties in
Sebastian County as evident as anywhere else.

"The fact is, we do drug enforcement because they destroy people's
lives," said Sgt. Ed Smalley, Fort Smith police narcotics and vice
unit.

He pointed out a letter attached to a clipboard hanging in his cubicle
to illustrate his point.

The girl who wrote it probably never intended for anyone to see it --
it was folded up and hidden -- but officers recovered it while
searching the home where she lived with her drug-addicted parents,
Smalley said.

"I don't like the fact of locking up people who have potential, but I
like that even less," Smalley said in reference to the girl.

The letter which begins, "Dear God," is a page-long plea for help from
the daughter of drug addicted parents. The letter describes her
parents' addiction to methamphetamine and OxyContin and her pain. She
was taken from them when they were arrested.

Smalley said OxyContin has quickly become the prescription drug
officers encounter regularly, while meth remains the "scourge on the
face of the earth" and a rock of crack can be bought by an undercover
officer within 15 minutes.

In the last few years, there have been several charges filed against
defendants -- one a former Fort Smith police officer -- accused of
robbing pharmacies, not seeking money, but demanding OxyContin.

An officer with the Fort Smith police department since 1989, Smalley
said he has no doubt that drug use in Fort Smith is up. The numbers
are not only reflected in the number of arrests, but the effect on
court dockets.

Each Wednesday activity on the second floor of the Sebastian County
Courthouse is ratcheted up as defendants, defense attorneys, judges
and other court personnel assemble for arraignments, mandatory
appearances and pleas.

Of the 159 scheduled court appearances on May 28 and June 4, 87 (55
percent) defendants were charged with drug offenses. The charges range
from simple possession to delivery and manufacturing drugs.

Because the court appearances involve charges from previous years, the
55 percent is an exaggeration of the number of drug charges filed in
circuit court in 2003. But through June 11, drug charges account for
more than

40 percent of all criminal charges filed in circuit court this
year.

Local law enforcement and prosecutors agree a significant number of
remaining appearances on other charges were influenced by or directly
related to drug addiction.

More than 20 defendants faced cocaine-related charges on the May 28
and June 4 dockets, which would seem to signal a upswing in the
presence of cocaine in the area, but Smalley said cocaine (the
majority being crack cocaine) and methamphetamine are constants in the
area.

Methamphetamine remaining a constant is no surprise. According to the
Drug Enforcement Agency Web site, meth lab seizures increased by 8
percent between 2001 and 2002. Between 1996 and the end of 2002 the
number of meth labs seized in the state has increased about 450 percent.

Smalley said noticeable cycles on the court docket between cocaine and
methamphetamine charges associated with arrests in Fort Smith is a
product of how investigations are conducted.

The narcotics unit has two supervisors, Smalley and Sgt. George
Lawson, and five full-time narcotics investigators.

With a seven-person unit serving a city of almost 90,000, Smalley said
the unit only has the resources to conduct a single full-scale
investigation at a time so they have to prioritize.

Smalley said investigations could be described like a spider web. It
begins at the outside of the web with the end user, and a goal of
reaching the top supplier in the middle. But sometimes the
investigation only takes lateral moves and is exhausted, so
investigators move on to a new case.

Based on the intelligence developed by officers inside and outside the
narcotics unit, Smalley said they may be hitting methamphetamine
dealers for a certain period before finding good sources to develop a
produce cocaine investigation.

Although the drugs of choice for local offenders are wide-ranging
based on a review of pending drug charges including criminal case
filed before January 2003 in Sebastian County Circuit Court, Smalley
said cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine are the constants.

There have been small busts (most times resulting from an unrelated
arrest) involving date rape drugs like Rohypnol or club drugs like
Ecstasy, but Smalley said the culture for those drugs doesn't have a
stronghold in Fort Smith -- at least not yet.

The sustained level of drug abuse and narcotics arrests led Sebastian
County to implement one of the state's few drug courts, which is a
court-ordered drug rehabilitation program that's an alternative to
incarceration.

Participants in drug court first must enter a plea in the case thought
brought them into the system and then follow strict guidelines,
including required Narcotics and Alcoholic Anonymous meetings, random
drug tests and weekly court appearances.

Sebastian County Prosecutor Steve Tabor said he likes the drug court
program and would like to see it expanded. He believes a certain
amount of punishment should be part of rehabilitation.

Tabor said he doesn't like the term "war on drugs" because it seems to
set an unrealistic expectation and provides ammunition to people who
favor legalizing drugs.

There is no expectation that murder, robbery or other crimes will ever
be totally eradicated and there is no reason to believe any
differently about drugs, Tabor said.

Smalley compared drug interdiction to emptying a pool with a
teaspoon.

"I know we have an impact, but you can't always see it," Smalley
said.