Pubdate: Wed, 07 Aug 2002
Source: Rutland Herald (VT)
Copyright: 2002 Rutland Herald
Contact:  http://rutlandherald.nybor.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/892
Author: Anne Wallace Allen, The Associated Press

DRUG TASK FORCE CHIEF SEEKING MORE FUNDING

MONTPELIER -- The Vermont State Police's drug task force needs more funding 
for undercover officers to fight the growing use of illegal drugs, says its 
new leader, Lt. Thomas L'Esperance.

And Vermont must provide more treatment for addicts, said L'Esperance, who 
started his new job last week in Waterbury.

L'Esperance, 37, and a native of Lynn, Mass., worked with the State Police 
in southern Vermont for a decade, most recently as commander of the 
Rockingham barracks.

He's seen a dramatic change in the drug trade in just the last few years.

"What was once a stop where you would get 10 to 20 bags of heroin, which 
would be a significant amount in the late 1990s, now it's not uncommon to 
see officers taking 200, 300 bags at a time," L'Esperance said on 
Wednesday. "It's kind of depressing."

The State Police drug task force was formed in 1987 to fight growing 
problems with drugs such as heroin, cocaine and marijuana. Its most recent 
leader was Lt. James Colgan, who retired from the Vermont State Police this 
summer.

Working out of the State Police headquarters in Waterbury, L'Esperance is 
responsible for supervising a multi-agency drug task force that includes 
deputy sheriffs and state troopers from all over Vermont.

L'Esperance did not want to reveal the number of officers he supervises.

Heroin is the biggest problem for police right now, he said Wednesday -- 
not because the cocaine problem has diminished, but because the heroin 
supply is growing so rapidly.

A state report released earlier this year showed that drug crimes, 
particularly those involving heroin, grew in 2001 as they did in past years.

Max Schlueter, director of the Vermont Crime Information Center, the 
department that compiles and analyzes the state's crime data, said drug 
crimes have risen an estimated 44 percent since 1997. Those crimes rose 14 
percent in 2001. Arrests for heroin jumped from 9 percent in 1997 to 31 
percent in 2001, he said. L'Esperance said heroin dealers can make a lot of 
money in Vermont.

"You can buy a bag of heroin in Holyoke, Mass., for $5 and come up to 
Vermont and sell it for $35 a bag," he said.

L'Esperance thinks police are making a dent in the problem, but he believes 
they could do more if they had funding for more undercover officers and 
other staff. The officers could investigate heroin and cocaine cases full 
time, and have better success going after dealers, he said.

"I think police in general are underfunded right now," he said. "The 
problem is bigger than us."

He also would like to see more money for prevention and treatment.

"I think that the drug problem itself may be underfunded; it's not just 
enforcement," L'Esperance said. "We don't have enough rehabilitation 
centers, methadone clinics."

The popularity of certain drugs moves in cycles, said Peter Lee, a former 
alcohol and drug abuse counselor who now works as chief of treatment 
services at the state health department's division of drug abuse and 
alcohol programs.

Right now, heroin is popular among drug users because its purity allows 
them to smoke or snort it instead of having to inject it, he said.

And many young people who would never use cocaine because they have learned 
of its dangers did not develop the same aversion to heroin that their 
elders did, he added.

"There are peaks and valleys in terms of popularity of one drug versus 
another drug," Lee said. "Different generations don't have that cultural 
memory about how bad heroin is ... and they're more susceptible to using it."
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