Pubdate: Sun, 27 Mar 2005
Source: Stamford Advocate, The (CT)
Copyright: 2005 Southern Connecticut Newspaper, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1522
Author: Martin B. Cassidy, Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)

DRUG ARRESTS SHOW USERS AREN'T ALWAYS DOWN-AND-OUT

People with six-figure salaries and high-powered jobs are among those 
netted in the U.S. Department of Justice's recent Drug Demand Reduction 
Initiative, according to Kevin O'Connor, the U.S. attorney for Connecticut.

"Some of the people we arrest have very successful careers," he said.

O'Connor declined to comment on the specific backgrounds of the 30 people 
arrested earlier this month in a crackdown on an alleged Stamford-based PCP 
and crack ring.

Along with 18 alleged dealers and distributors arrested March 5, there were 
eight Greenwich residents charged with attempting to buy drugs. All were 
between the ages of 35 and 48.

"There is no one type," O'Connor said. "There are quite a few people who've 
done a wonderful job of masking their drug use or addictions."

One of those charged in the recent round of arrests was a Greenwich man who 
owns a chain of auto body shops in Fairfield County, O'Connor said.

Six of those arrested live in the Riverside section of Greenwich, several 
of them on quiet streets lined with one- and two-story houses near the Post 
Road. Another person charged lives in Byram and the last near downtown Old 
Greenwich. Most are homeowners, according to town records. The Connecticut 
part of the federal demand-side reduction effort was initiated in August 
2003 and is a joint program between the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Haven 
and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency to investigate and prosecute drug 
buyers, particularly those who travel to urban areas to buy drugs, O'Connor 
said.

"One of the things that happens in urban neighborhoods is suburban users 
coming in to buy drugs either to use or take home," O'Connor said. "We hope 
this serves as a wake-up call that you can't help create the demand without 
risking prosecution."

Two former Greenwich residents have pleaded guilty under the initiative in 
the past year, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

In April, Rondy Murphy, 41, pleaded guilty to attempted possession of 
heroin and was sentenced to two years' probation and continued drug 
treatment and counseling at his own expense, a $1,000 fine and $500 for the 
expenses of the investigation, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. In 
October, Mary Hobby, 40, pleaded guilty to crack cocaine possession and 
received two years probation and was fined $1,000.

Directors of drug treatment facilities at Greenwich Hospital and 
Stamford-based LMG Programs said they frequently treat patients who can to 
some extent contain the personal and professional ruin that drugs can cause.

John Hamilton, executive vice president for clinical services at LMG, said 
families and employers sometimes force drug users into treatment or 
counseling. The group has eight residential and outpatient drug treatment 
facilities in Fairfield County.

Some abusers can limit their drug use to weekends or when socializing. 
"It's when they break their own rules it is a sign that things have gone 
really awry," Hamilton said.

Dr. George Ubogy, an addiction medicine specialist at Greenwich Hospital 
and medical director of its Recovery Program, said that users of illegal 
drugs who are successful and able to function relatively well are not uncommon.

Those whose illegal drug use persists into their 30s and 40s probably began 
using drugs in their adolescence and might return to them when faced with 
some type of problem, Ubogy said.

Drug treatment specialists have been noticing a resurgence of cocaine use 
by white-collar workers, Hamilton said, and marijuana use among adults is 
more common than ever.

Detective Sgt. Timothy Duff, of the Greenwich Police Narcotics Squad, said 
detectives sense there is more drug activity in Greenwich. He declined to 
specifically discuss illegal drug use among middle-aged residents, saying 
it might reveal police tactics to detect illegal drug use.

Philip Russell, a Greenwich-based defense attorney, said he has in the past 
represented drug users who are "high functioning" and show few outward 
signs of being on drugs.

"It's important to remember that what is driving the narcotics industry is 
primarily working people with the earning power to maintain a recreational 
or casual drug habit," Russell said. "It's hard to paint drug users with 
one brush because they come from every economic, racial, and social strata."
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