Pubdate: Sun, 04 Apr 2004 Source: New York Times (NY) Copyright: 2004 The New York Times Company Contact: http://www.nytimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298 Author: Shelly Feuer Domash Cited: Office of National Drug Control Policy www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov Cited: Drug Enforcement Administration www.dea.gov Cited: National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws www.norml.org Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis) POLICE FIGHT RESURGENT MARIJUANA TRADE Marijuana Use Is On The Rise Again On Long Island. After decades as the recreational drug of choice for the young, hip and rebellious, marijuana appeared to go out of fashion about 15 to 20 years ago, at least to judge by law enforcement statistics. The number of arrests in Nassau County for marijuana possession or sale fell from 864 in 1985 to 468 in 1990 as pot smoking was largely supplanted by crack cocaine and synthetic party drugs like angel dust and Ecstasy. But the figures now show sharp increases in marijuana arrests -- up to 1,179 in 2000 and 1,494 last year in Nassau. In Suffolk, 3,843 arrests were made in 2003, up from 2,495 in 2000, the earliest year for which figures are available. And officials in both counties say those figures understate the trend. Experts attribute much of the resurgence to the fact that dealing marijuana is very profitable but not very risky: law enforcement agencies concentrate on more powerful and dangerous drugs like heroin and cocaine, and unless large quantities are involved, the state's drug laws treat traffickers in those narcotics much more harshly than marijuana dealers. The Suffolk police narcotics unit's top priority is "long-term investigations that involve cocaine, crack and heroin," said Detective Sgt. Thomas Higgins. "We do get into marijuana, but that is more of a street narcotics operation, until it gets into the pound category." That is as it should be, say supporters of decriminalization of marijuana. Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, which has been lobbying for legalization of the drug, said: "Children admit having more access to controlled and unregulated marijuana than they do to taxed and controlled drugs, such as alcohol and tobacco. If you are a parent and you want your children to have minimal contact with marijuana, prohibition is not the policy that is going to deliver that." Most opposition to easing restrictions on marijuana focuses on the old gateway-drug theory, which holds that people are more likely to try stronger drugs if they have tried marijuana. A report by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University said that "statistically speaking, marijuana stands convicted as a gateway drug. Twelve-to 17-year-olds who smoke marijuana are 85 times more likely to use cocaine than those who do not." But Dr. Andrea Barthwell, a deputy director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, said that because more marijuana is being used at a higher potency and at a younger age, the discussion had moved beyond the gateway-drug debate. "The gateway theory used to be important because it suggested that using alcohol, tobacco, or marijuana as a first substance will open the door to other substance addiction," she said. "Our understanding today is the hard drugs are no different. Marijuana is no longer a steppingstone." Anthony Placido, special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration's New York division, which includes Long Island, said the marijuana seen on Long Island these days is more potent than it was three or four decades ago. "It is hydroponically produced indoors with selectively separated male and female plants, so they don't waste energy germinating," he said. Referring to the active chemical in marijuana, he said of today's marijuana varieties, "The THC is doubled, and in some cases tripled, from the 60's." Dr. Barthwell also pointed to recent medical studies showing that marijuana can impair learning and memory. "When one initiates on marijuana, it is strong enough to change the direction of a child's life," she said. "The future harm is now." Law enforcement officials said they are also seeing more examples of marijuana laced with other drugs, like cocaine, a narcotic; LSD, a hallucinogen; and PCP, a hallucinogen also known as angel dust. Detective Lt. Kevin Smith, a Nassau police spokesman, said it was unclear why Suffolk's marijuana arrest totals were more than twice as high as his county's. "Perhaps they are seeing more marijuana-related offenses than we are seeing here," Lieutenant Smith said of the Suffolk statistics. Thomas Willdig, president of the Nassau detectives' union, said the reason was the county's budget straits, which have left the police force with fewer officers on the street and fewer detectives on the narcotics squad -- 31 in 2003, down from 55 in 1998. Gary DeLaRaba, president of the Nassau police officers' union, said: "It is obvious that dealing drugs is a lot easier in this county. We are doing more with less, and they are selling more." The Suffolk County chief of detectives, Kenneth Rau, said the number of street officers and narcotics detectives has remained basically the same over the past three years. He added that the Suffolk department has made a concerted effort to arrest marijuana dealers. But state and federal officials said marijuana dealers were in a relatively invulnerable position. "Probably the most profitable niche in the illicit-drug market is to be a marijuana dealer who is sophisticated enough to foil local law enforcement and traffic in amounts that are small enough that they are not of interest to the federal government," Agent Placido said. "If you can occupy that market, you can make an incredible amount of money." Kevin Cavanagh, a senior New York State Police investigator, agreed that the marijuana business was both very profitable and "an increasing problem" on Long Island. In one case last year, a task force seized 4,000 pounds of marijuana at various locations on Long Island, along with $11 million in cash that prosecutors said was receipts from marijuana sales. Mr. Cavanagh said the case illustrated how big and lucrative the trade can be and how unworried dealers have become about getting caught -- a view echoed by Ricky Smith, a detective in the Hempstead Police Department who is part of a federal drug task force on Long Island. "Nobody is really afraid to sell marijuana, because they are not going to be put away for a long time compared to other narcotics," Mr. Smith said. "What we are seeing over the last couple of years," he said, is crack cocaine dealers who "are getting out of jail and looking to sell marijuana, because it is not as harsh a sentence. I've seen people who are locked up, in the last two years, close to 10 times for the sale of marijuana, and they are still back out on the streets." New York State has decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana. A first or second offense of possessing 25 grams or less is treated as a violation, the least serious category of offense, similar to a traffic ticket; conviction brings a fine of $100 to $200 but no jail time. Sale of such a small amount, or possession of 25 grams to 8 ounces, is a misdemeanor, punishable by no more than a year in prison. Sale of more than 25 grams is a felony; for up to 4 ounces, the maximum sentence is four years. By contrast, the mandatory sentence for selling 2 ounces of cocaine or heroin or possessing 4 ounces of either drug is 15 years to life. New York's sentencing laws for hard-narcotics convictions have often been criticized as excessively harsh, and have been blamed for crowding the state's prisons with nonviolent offenders serving long terms. But law enforcement officials say it is the state's marijuana laws that ought to be altered, because they are too lenient. Problems with marijuana "will continue to grow until the Legislature wakes up and starts changing some of the laws" to make the laws governing marijuana dealing as strict as those dealing with cocaine, Detective Ricky Smith said. "People who get locked up are in the system no time at all." Law enforcement officials said that on Long Island, marijuana users range from junior high school students of 12 or 13 to retirees who began smoking it in the 1950's and 1960's. Many more people of all ages and backgrounds have tried marijuana than other illegal drugs, they said. "People look at marijuana as a harmless drug," said Sgt. Ed Fennesy, a supervisor in the Nassau Police Department's narcotics bureau. "Now you have a generation of parents who took drugs all along, who allow their kids to do it." - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin