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Drug experts talk of trends
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
A pair of drug experts from the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office told an audience Monday that one of the biggest trends in the use of illegal drugs, especially marijuana, is vaporization.
Lt. Shawn Bain and retired Sgt. Michael Powell, who both worked for the office’s Special Investigations Unit, walked the audience through some of the intricate, time-consuming and, in some cases, expensive ways marijuana users increase the high of the drug or conceal its use from others — often in their own house.
“No amount of money, no amount of effort is too much to get high,” Bain said.
The two participate in “Operate Street Smart,” which is offered across the state by Franklin County Sheriff Zach Scott. The Mahoning County Children Services Board hosted the local presentation Monday.
Helping the vaporization trend is the rise in the last few years of e-cigarettes and vapor devices to smoke tobacco. One of the reasons they are so popular is that they cut down on the odor of tobacco and can do the same for marijuana, Powell said.
Bain and Powell said that the devices offer marijuana users a unique opportunity to increase the level of THC — the compound that gives off the high — in large quantities.
Powell said one drug user told him that smoking a joint the typical way only gives the user 20 percent of the chemical, but the high is a lot more hard-hitting when more of the chemical can be captured for the user.
The two said they often go into “head shops,” or places where drug paraphernalia is sold, in order to learn more about what’s on the cutting edge of the drug trade.
One of the hottest trends right now is using butane or honey oil to help coax more THC out of a dose of marijuana and different, seemingly innocuous household items are used to help in this process, such as PVC pipe, turkey basters, cardboard toilet paper holders and sports-drink bottles.
“Some things that don’t appear to be drug paraphernalia — there’s significant uses for it,” Bain said.
The pair also gave tips in case someone thinks someone in their house is smoking marijuana. They said in most cases, people wait a month before smoking inside their home, and during that time, they begin introducing other odors so that others do not become alarmed when they start smoking.
They both said there are always clues around if someone is heavily into a drug.
“Always go through the trash,” Powell said. “They’re going to make mistakes if they abuse their drug. They’re always going to throw stuff away.”
Both also said that they agree that marijuana and alcohol are “gateway” drugs. They said typically, almost all hardcore drug users they know got their start abusing marijuana or alcohol.