TO STOP DRUGS WE MUST ADDRESS SUPPLY, DEMAND

Law enforcement officials in Kennebec and Somerset counties have
scored two victories in the unending war on drugs recently. While
these interdiction efforts are crucial to the fight against substance
abuse, they won't put an end to drug use by themselves.

On Sept. 15, Augusta police detectives and agents with the Maine Drug
Enforcement Agency arrested a Massachusetts couple as part of the
largest heroin bust in the city's history. Police confiscated 500 bags
of heroin and 19 grams of crack cocaine with a combined street value
of more than $19,000.

Juan Ramone Taveras, a 23-year-old Worcester man, has been charged
with aggravated trafficking of heroin and cocaine within 1,000 feet of
a school, two class A crimes punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
Police say Taveras hid a large amount of his drugs in a child's toy
and had his 2-year-old son with him when he attempted to sell the drugs.

Three days later, on Sept. 18, Somerset County Detective Lt. Carl
Gottardi and Kennebec Sheriff's deputy Kingston Paul (who is also a
member of the Fairfield Police Department) arrested a Gardiner man on
charges of cultivating marijuana. They also seized 38 6-foot-tall
marijuana plants worth an estimated $20,000.

This was no low-key agricultural effort. Investigators say that when
they arrested John H. Smith, he was preparing to set up video
surveillance equipment to protect his investment.

These drug busts are dramatic and rightly garner the public's
attention. However, they represent just a small portion of the amount
of drugs that are coming into central Maine these days.

Assistant Attorney General James M. Cameron points out that despite
the fact that the heroin bust was the biggest in Augusta's history,
there's evidence that Taveras wasn't making his first trip when he was
arrested. "The amount of drugs brought in by Mr. Taveras is many times
the amount he was arrested with," Cameron observed.

Furthermore, for every would-be drug dealer who is caught, there are,
according to Maine Drug Enforcement agents, a dozen more ready to take
his place. It's a simple application of the law of supply and demand:
As long as people in central Maine are willing to pay nearly $20,000
for drugs that can be hid in a small child's toy, dealers in
Massachusetts will be willing to risk their freedom to drive up
Interstate 95 with cocaine and heroin.

This isn't an argument to curtail interdiction efforts. Rather, it
does suggest that drug busts and other efforts to interrupt the supply
chain will succeed over the long-term when they are coupled with
efforts to interrupt the demand side.

That means that police and sheriff departments should continue their
prevention efforts, especially those focused on young people. It also
means that the state ought to be supporting efforts to help addicts
and substance abusers lead drug-free lives.

Prevention efforts and treatment programs rarely produce big
headlines, but they do produce results. If central Maine wants to stop
the flow of drugs into the region, officials here should address both
supply and demand.