Law enforcement combating different drugs
This photo shows the packaging for THC vapes, which contain THC from marijuana. Salem Police Chief J.T. Panezott said the items are being marketed to young people, making them look like wrappers for candy or cereal. He said parents should watch out for them. (Submitted photo)
This photo shows the packaging for THC vapes, which contain THC from marijuana. Salem Police Chief J.T. Panezott said the items are being marketed to young people, making them look like wrappers for candy or cereal. He said parents should watch out for them. (Submitted photo)
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SALEM -- Calls for narcotics dipped slightly last year, but Salem Police Chief J.T. Panezott said his department has to continue fighting because drugs remain a problem.
"I'm seeing something very dangerous happening," he said.
The opioid epidemic hit the city and Columbiana County hard and now trends are changing from home-made methamphetamines to Mexican-produced meth known as Mexican Ice. He described it as pure meth that costs cheap and as a result he said "we're dealing with a very different clientele."
The users stay up for days on end and they're going crazy, Panezott said. He called it "meth psychosis."
"We go to a house and people will be having a conversation with an invisible person. It's getting out of hand. I'm told it's harder to come out of than opioids," he said.
Panezott described an incident last summer on East Pershing when a man was holding invisible people in his locked attic at gunpoint.
He said he heard that the Mexican drug cartels may be designated as terrorist organizations and said he thinks that's great because they've probably led to the deaths of more U.S. citizens than terrorists.
The other drug he said the community is getting inundated with is THC vapes. THC is what gives marijuana the high. He explained that regular marijuana contains about 30 percent THC. THC vapes contain 92 to 93 percent THC and people of all ages are vaping.
"We have concerns of it being in our schools. We've seen it at Salem High School and other schools in the area outside of Salem," he said.
The vape liquid comes in a glass cartridge that's inserted into a vape device, such as a pen, then the liquid is vaporized and the user inhales the vapor. The kind with THC looks just like the vape that's legal, with packaging that looks like candy or popular cereals.
"I think it's a problem everywhere," he said.
The police are being approached by parents about vaping and he has photos of what the packaging looks like so they know what to look for.
Panezott credited the reduction in narcotics calls, which decreased from 121 in 2018 to 105 last year, to having the two K-9 teams in the department. Due to the deterrent factor, he's seen the drug scene change with not as many out-of-towners coming to Salem to sell.
"I know it's still happening but not like it was back in 2013 when we had an open-air drug market at Centennial Park," he said.
A Warren crew also got taken down, with all of them either in prison or on probation. The leader was sentenced to 14 years in prison. That made a big impact.
K-9 Simon and K-9 Argo combined for 260 deployments last year, which was 67 down from the previous year. Panezott said officers are getting better at determining when to call out the dogs and when not to. Of the 260 call-outs for the K-9s, 125 involved positive alerts to the odor of narcotics and in 116 cases, contraband was found. There were also two cases for use of force and they also conducted searches and did some tracking. Training for the K-9 teams, which include Patrolman Mike Garber with Simon and Patrolman Steve LaRosa with Argo, averaged 24 hours per month.
"I can't stress enough what a great community policing tool they are. I don't think you can find a kid who hasn't met them," he said, adding the officers do a lot of community outreach.
Other numbers related to drugs included a decrease in traffic citations for possession of marijuana or paraphernalia from 93 in 2018 to 75 last year, but an increase in arrests for drug paraphernalia/drug instruments from 74 to 88.
Panezott said grand jury cases are where they see the results of the traffic stops and drug cases. Many times no charges are filed related to the drugs until they can have the suspected drugs lab-tested and that takes time, but the cases do not go away.
Grand jury cases related to drugs presented for Salem last year included: 39 counts aggravated possession of drugs, felony five; five counts aggravated possession of drugs, felony three; 9 counts possession of cocaine; three counts possession of drugs; five counts possession of heroin; five counts possession of fentanyl-related compound; one count each illegal use or possession of drug paraphernalia and trafficking in drugs; four counts possession of drug abuse instruments; and two counts possession of controlled substance analog (chemically altered).
mgreier@salemnews.net