Street Smart program provides drug info

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

The world of drug use is a secret world, with its own language (“chasing the rainbow”, “riding the elevator”, “doin’ da lean”) and a multitude of ways drug users hide their “stash” from the eyes of law enforcement, parents and other adults, such as school officials.

The Operation: Street Smart adult drug education program created by the Franklin Count Sheriff’s Office back in 2002, educates law enforcement officers and other first-responders, as well as parents, to recognize the signs of drug abuse, and also know the newest ways drug abusers attempt to hide their drug use from others.

Friday’s presentation was given by Captain Shawn Bain, Sergeant Mike Powell and Corporal Brian Toth, all veteran undercover drug officers with years of experience in dealing with the drug problem.

Van Wert Municipal Court Judge Jill Leatherman, who brought the Street Smart program to Van Wert on Friday, with assistance from Van Wert Police Lt. Doug Weigle, said she had first seen the presentation at an Ohio Judges Association conference last August.

“I was so impressed by their presentation and all of the information that they had, I though it would be beneficial to bring this kind of information to our community,” Judge Leatherman said. “I think one of the more enlightening about the Street Smart program is this (drug abuse) is going on right beneath your nose, and if you don’t know the signs, it’s hard to identify what the problem is.”

Corporal Toth, a veteran narcotics officer with 16 years of experience, said education is crucial to any efforts to decrease drug use. “You can’t lock the problem up, you can’t incarcerate the problem, you’ve got to educate,” he said.

The program provides general information on a variety of drug abuse, including alcohol, marijuana, synthetic marijuana (spice, K-2), huffing, prescription medication abuse, heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine, bath salts and plant food, methamphetamine, GHB, DFSA, psychedelic mushrooms, Bufotenine, XTC, PCP and LSD, and Khat, as well as the many ways drug users conceal drugs in pop or beer cans and hollowed out everyday items that appear harmless.

Toth said there is a whole industry dedicated to finding new ways for users to conceal drugs and drug use from parents and law enforcement officers.

“These companies are making a lot of money by hollowing out items that can used to hide drugs,” he noted.

Although much of the audience at Friday’s Street Smart presentation was made up of law enforcement officers and other first-responders, Toth said it is especially important for parents to recognize the signs of drug abuse in their children.

“You have to let mom and dad know, so that when little things change: kids get new friends, their grades go way down, parents find little pieces of sandpaper (used to sand down pills), spoons are missing from the drawer … they can get help quickly,” he said.

Judge Leatherman agreed that parents need to know the signs of drug abuse.

“You may not think you have a problem because you don’t know what to look for,” the judge said.

And those signs evolve rapidly, Toth said, adding that the Street Smart program is updated weekly to keep up with new information and drug use trends.

Judge Leatherman said the Van Wert community is already beginning to see changes in drug usage related to the recent creation of a drug court that uses Vivitrol to help heroin users get off that drug.

The judge said local law enforcement officers are now seeing an increase in cocaine use by former heroin users who are taking Vivitrol. She also noted that more local drug users are testing positive for multiple drugs, rather than just one.

“That’s their lifestyle, they just want to get high,” Toth said of the drug use changes.

In addition to Street Smart presentations, Franklin County narcotics officers are also available for use as a resource by law enforcement departments in other communities wanting to obtain the latest drug abuse information.