Pubdate: Sat, 05 Apr 2014
Source: Cumberland Times-News (MD)
Copyright: 2014 Cumberland Times-News
Contact:  http://www.times-news.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1365
Author: Jeffrey Alderton, Cumberland Times-News

USE, DEALING NOT UNUSUAL FOR TRI-STATE

CUMBERLAND - Media reports of drug arrests involving the possession
and distribution of heroin seem to be increasingly common throughout
the tri-state region, a fact indicative of a growing nationwide problem.

Attorney General Eric Holder told a Senate committee Thursday the
heroin epidemic is an "urgent and growing public health crisis,"
according to The Associated Press.

Recent arrests and a jury trial in Hampshire County make the
point.

Tuesday, a 23-year-old city man was arrested for possession of 77
large capsules of heroin when he was a passenger in a vehicle stopped
on Park Street by Cumberland Police.

A Romney, W.Va., man who was also a passenger in the vehicle was
arrested for possession of a hypodermic syringe and a spoon containing
heroin residue.

Monday, a traffic stop on westbound Interstate 68 at Finzel in Garrett
County resulted in the arrest of a 27-year-old Odenton man on charges
of possession of heroin and crack cocaine.

Maryland State Police seized 120 heroin pills and 40 grams of black
tar heroin during the stop and arrest.

Also Monday, a Keyser man was arrested in a drug raid by Keyser Police
Department at a Third Street residence. The tenant was charged with
three counts of possession with intent to distribute controlled
dangerous substances including heroin and opium.

All of the cases eventually end in court - like a recent jury trial in
Hampshire County, W.Va., where a Slanesville man was convicted of
delivery of heroin.

A video recording of a controlled drug buy was shown to the jury by
the prosecutor during the trial.

"I have seen the presence of heroin in our community increase over the
last year," said Michael Twigg, Allegany County state's attorney.

"It's at a high level but not as high as we have seen before and it
does give us some concern. As with the rest of the country, heroin
seems to ebb and flow and it appears that its use is rising in Maryland.

"While we will continue to target those who bring this awful drug into
our community, this is a battle that must be fought on many fronts.

"Along with law enforcement, there must be a concerted effort to
continue to educate people of the dangers of this drug," said Twigg.
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