Tracking Cocaine Use In Oxford Difficult For Police

By Kelly Wagner

Miami University journalism student

The use of cocaine has been increasing in the United States.

In a recent story on Columbia's coca boom (cocaine is made from the leaves of the coca plant), the Washington Post suggests cocaine is making a comeback. The story also notes that overdose deaths in the United States have also been on the rise.

This, after the National Institute of Drug Addiction had noticed a decline in the use of the drug

Cocaine is classified as a Scheduled II class substance -- which means it's considered highly addictive.

A lot of times, cocaine will be mixed with other dangerous drugs.

Deaths In Oxford

What the Oxford Police Department called a “dangerous batch” of cocaine, possibly mixed with other drugs, found its way to town in March and has been tied to the deaths of two people on Mar. 25.

"I think it is a problem (the use of cocaine) when two people die," OPD Lt. Lara Fening says. "Part of the problem is that you don't really know what you're getting. People rely on trusted dealers and trusted sources."

Fening says cocaine definitely circulates in Oxford, it's just hard to track.

"I think that in the college community, it’s there. We don’t catch it very often because we don’t have a whole lot of reason to pat someone down and search them to find something small like that. For the townies, I think it is a popular drug for the townies in the twenties and thirties age group."

Through social media digging, Fening and her fellow officers can see evidence that cocaine is being used.

"We don’t catch it a lot but this is based on stories and word of mouth, instances that I have been told of of other people," Fening says.

However, some students believe that cocaine is not a huge issue in Oxford.

"I don’t think it’s as prevalent as people assume," one Miami University junior says. "If you go searching for it, it’s not very hard to find, but the common student doesn’t find it on a regular basis."

Few Arrests, Continuing Efforts

Only one arrest every few months in Oxford is cocaine related.

So if officers know cocaine is being used, why are arrests involving cocaine so low?

"We can’t just go search everybody for no good reason," says Fening.

Fening says that cocaine users do not often bring attention to themselves when they are doing the drug, which means they generally don't give officers a reason to search them. By law, police need to have a reason to stop and search an individual.

Tracking the use of illegal drugs like cocaine isn't just the work of one police department.

The OPD is a part of the Butler County Undercover Unit, BURN -- a multi-agency narcotics task force run by the Butler County Sheriff's Office.

"They won't tell you who is involved, what they are doing," Fening says. "Any time we get information of illegal drugs, or dealing, or any information like that, we forward it to that person, and that person then starts developing leads and a case."

Also, the Oxford Police Department is getting a new K-9 unit. By late July or early August, they will be receiving an all-purpose dog.

Fening believes the new K-9 unit will aid officers in their investigation of the use of illegal drugs such as cocaine.

Photo: The front entrance of the Oxford Police Department in Oxford, Ohio, where officers work extremely hard to detect and stop drug use. -- Photo by Kelly Wagner.