STATE POLICE: TRAFFICKING OF POT, OTHER DRUGS, ON THE RISE

Michigan State Police have seized "large quantities" of marijuana,
heroin, cocaine and prescription narcotics over the past month,
according to Lt. John Card, commander of the Bay City post.

"There's a lot of Christmas green, so to speak, being trafficked
north," he said. "There is no small town that is immune from having
narcotics and marijuana delivered to their area."

Larger busts have occurred south of here, with state police seizing
48 bales of marijuana, totaling 1,200 pounds, on Interstate 94,
coming from Tucson, Ariz., Card said. Another bust south of Detroit
netted 1,375 pounds of marijuana packed into a bus, he said.

Closer to home, troopers from the Bay City post stopped a car in Bay
County that was headed to Newberry, in the Upper Peninsula, with four
pounds of marijuana.

"We have noticed an increase," Card said. "You hate to think it's
tied to the holiday season, but it could be people trying to make a
quick deal to make quick money."

Another recent traffic stop revealed two pounds of marijuana hidden
in an engine compartment, Card said.

"Sometimes a trooper makes a stop and smells marijuana, or the
stories just don't add up. Sometimes they find drugs during a search
of a vehicle subsequent to arrest."

It's not just marijuana, either, that's turning up more frequently.
Card said Oxycontin, a prescription drug, and heroin are very similar
in effect and users of one often turn to the other when their drug of
choice is unavailable.

"There is a strong potential to have an overdose when users are used
to something that's 10 to 20 percent pure and they get something
that's 80 or 90 percent pure," he said.

Oxycontin, Card said, sells for up to $50 per pill. He reminds
residents that it is illegal to transport prescription drugs outside
of the pill bottle from the pharmacy.

"There's been a definite spike in prescription drug abuse," he said.
"They're easy to hide and have a very significant high."