DRUGS TAKING THEIR TOLL ON THE COMMUNITY

Several Carter Countians were arrested Thursday by agents of the First
Judicial District Drug Task Force on a variety of drug charges, involving
everything from crack cocaine to heroin to Ecstasy to marijuana. In late
January, DTF arrested nine persons in three days during "buy-busts" for
crack cocaine.

While serving a warrant on the ninth person, DTF found him to be in
possession of OxyContin. Most of the nine were from Johnson City. On Feb.
25, two Johnson County residents were arrested by members of the Johnson
County Sheriff's Department, DTF agents, and U.S. Forest Service officers
after they turned up a marijuana "grow house" in Trade, Tenn. Agents seized
pounds of marijuana, 105 well-manicured plants, another 80 to 90 harvested
plants, $14,000 in cash, passport photos, drug paraphernalia and equipment.
On Feb. 28, three Lynn Valley residents were arrested after DTF agents and
Carter County Sheriff's Department's SWAT team executed a search warrant at
the residence.

Five ounces of powder cocaine, about $3,000 in cash, several weapons, and
ammunition were found.

Two other Elizabethton residents who arrived on the scene, then left in a
hurry after seeing officers, were arrested after a brief pursuit.

A black duffle bag containing three open syringes and a spoon with white
powder residue was found inside the vehicle. Also in February, two
Richlands, Va., men were arrested and charged with the January burglaries
of Union Prescription Shop, 402 Bemberg Road, during which a quantity of
hydrocodone, a Schedule III controlled substance, was taken.

Later in the month, a Kingsport man was apprehended in an Abingdon, Va.,
hotel room and charged with the robbery of Hampton Pharmacy. According to
Sheriff John Henson, the man had demanded pharmacy workers give him all of
their OxyContin. In early March, Carter County Investigator Audrey
Covington charged an Elizabethton woman with second-degree murder and three
others with being accessories after the fact following a year-long
investigation into the death of a 23-year-old city man. The man collapsed
after being injected with oxycodone. According to District Attorney General
Joe Crumley, each county in the First Judicial District seems to have its
own distinct problem area. "Washington County is cocaine and crack cocaine;
Unicoi is marijuana; Johnson, heroin and methamphetamine. If I had to say,
'What's the No. 1 drug in Carter County?,' I would say different types of
sedatives, depressants, and tranquilizers. "OxyContin is hard to get but
it's a major problem and there's a lot of morphine, a lot of Loritab,
Valium -- that's not to say there's not heroin, cocaine and marijuana
because there certainly is." Crumley has prosecuted numerous drug cases
since 1989. "I guess it's an endless cycle, really; you just see the 'drug
of choice' changing from time to time. Back then it was crack cocaine.

Crack is still an important drug for a lot of abuse in this district, but
now we're seeing a lot more in the way of Ecstasy, methamphetamine, and
heroin." DTF now is placing more emphasis on larger, rather than small-time
dealers, however, Crumley said, the smaller dealers can't be ignored
"because sometimes they're just blatant in doing it out in the open." Much
of the First District's crime is related to drugs, from homicides to
burglaries, according to Crumley. "A lot of our thefts and burglaries are
related to people stealing to be able to sell CDs or whatever, just to get
more drugs." One noticeable change, he said, is an apparent influx of
organizations from outside the area which target local communities to make
money. "Whether it's New York or North Carolina, they see street prices are
pretty much higher here than up North or in North Carolina, so they can
make more money." Improvements with the drug task force have made
prosecution of drug cases more efficient. "They have the best equipment
they've ever had," Crumley said. "Whereas two years ago, the tapes were
almost inaudible, they now have some of the best taping equipment money can
buy." DTF also has become very picky about who they use as confidential
informants. However, one problem associated with conducting buy-busts of
prescription drugs is the cost. "If you're buying morphine or OxyContin,
it's not uncommon to pay $50 or more a pill, and the judges will look at
you sometimes like, 'Why is there a four pill case here?' But you've paid
the equivalent for four tablets of morphine or four OxyContin as, say,
eight to 10 rocks of crack cocaine.

That does make it difficult because you've got to be able to justify the
amount of money that you put into a transaction. What we've tried to do is
increase quantities within reasonable limits," Crumley said. "I'm real
proud of the job the task force has been doing." Crumley said DTF, to its
credit, has broken up several methamphetamine labs in Johnson County. But
the problem doesn't end after making a bust. "What's difficult with meth
labs, and people don't really understand, is the expense of cleaning up the
labs. It's an extreme environmental problem and there are only a very few
people qualified in the state to supervise the destruction of a meth lab."
Agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration and Tennessee Bureau of
Investigation generally assist, however, Crumley said, "We're trying to get
some other agencies to get the training in the near future so they can help
with that as well." Taxpayers ultimately foot the bill for a meth lab
cleanup, according to Crumley. However, he said, "One thing we're trying to
do, we haven't done it yet, is we're going to try to see if we can tax that
as restitution and make the defendant pay for it." The First District
recently added a drug prosecutor through a federal grant from Housing and
Urban Development. Focus has been on increased community policing in the
areas of Clark Manor and Tyler Apartment complexes in Johnson City. Crumley
believes a drug prosecutor would be of great benefit to Carter County. "If
we have the opportunity to apply for the grant again, I think we should try
to include that," he said. Drug overdoses in the city and county often keep
Carter County Rescue Squad personnel busy. "You can pretty much count on so
many drug-related calls per year," said David Nichols, deputy EMS director.
"There's only so much we can do for an overdose patient.

Our main objective is to keep their heart beating and keep them breathing
until we can get them to the hospital and see what it is and what to do
about it." Elizabethton Chief of Police Roger Deal said he believes drugs
are directly related to criminal activity in the area. "We see it all the
time: forged prescriptions, forged checks, fraudulent checks, credit card
fraud -- it all leads back to drugs." Combating criminal activity is
difficult without funding, however, and right now, city agencies, including
the police department, are under a budget freeze. "I don't have anybody
with DTF because I don't have the manpower.

Where am I going to take them from? It's kind of like robbing Peter to pay
Paul," Deal said. The city is under contract to provide an officer to DEA,
from which it receives asset forfeitures by way of cash seized or vehicles
and property seized and sold. However, sometimes those forfeitures don't
come through for two or three years, Deal said. Last year, the Elizabethton
officer assigned to DTF was promoted and placed on patrol.

With only five officers per shift, pulling one off and sending him to DTF
creates a safety risk. "What do you do? Take away from patrol?

I've got five people on a shift and if I pull one off, that leaves four;
and when officers are off for training, sickness or vacations, that just
gets down to a dangerous level and I can't let that happen.

Somebody would get hurt," Deal said. "The answer has got to be more money,
and it's got to come from somewhere."