Recently, however, youths have begun to abuse the drug to achieve a trancelike state. A different mix resulted in several overdoses in the Atlanta area in the past few months. The Administration appears to be pursuing several drug strategies simultaneously. The President has asked for a 7 percent rise in the budget for law enforcement as well as 13 billion dollars for drug-control program, an increase of 804 million dollars over the current year. Meanwhile the daily challenge of containing the drug epidemic falls largely to local cops and DEA field offices.
Ingenuity is the name of the game.
In California, where 10 percent of the state's marijuana is grown indoors to evade detection, the DEA tracks purchases of illicit equipment, such as high-pressure sodium lights, to pick of the trail of growers. Minneapolis police have grown more sophisticated in tracking crack dealers who no longer keep cars, residences or bank accounts in their own names. Bernie Bottema, supervisor of the city's narcotics units. We've had to rise to the level of our competition. It appears that level is not going to drop off anytime soon.