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SENIORS LEARN ABOUT PINE BLUFF’S DRUG WAR

By Ezra Mann/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Thursday, November 20, 2008 10:00 AM CST

Illegal drug activity is a reality in every community, but there are efforts being made every day to fight the problems, according to presenters at a Crime Victims Support Group meeting Wednesday.

Pine Bluff Commercial/Ralph Fitzgerald Sgt. Joe Harrell (center), of the Pine Bluff Vice and Narcotics Division, shows Glenda Reeves (left) and Rose Jones what $400 of crack cocaine looks like Wednesday morning during the Crime Victims Support Group meeting.

Held at the Area Agency on Aging of Southeast Arkansas, the meeting was hosted by the Rev. Edna Morgan of Healing Place Ministries.

Sgt. Joe Paul Harrell and Detective Sharon Reed of the Vice and Narcotics division of the Pine Bluff Police Department presented drug awareness information.

Harrell said that drug activity in Pine Bluff varies, noting that there have been about 200 search warrants issued so far this year and that the Vice and Narcotics division receives much of its funds via items seized as a result of crimes.

He said vice and narcotics officers spend a great deal of time trying to stop or prevent more individuals from getting involved in the illicit trade, though some are easier to convince than others. Little effort can be made if someone does not want to stop using or dealing drugs and it is hard to turn down the allure of the money that can be made even if the risks mean death.

“It’s hard to compete when an older guy tells someone young that they can make $200 standing on a street corner when they’d only make minimum wage somewhere else,” Harrell said. “Most of the times these guys aren’t working and you can’t rehabilitate someone who refuses help.”

Several participants at the meeting found the information informative. Glenda Reeves said she’d never heard about some of the drugs mentioned in the presentation. The information seemed to suggest that the police department was fighting a losing battle, though not one that should be given up on, she said.

“I learned a lot I didn’t know and I think this is the kind of meeting we need to have for young people so they know the effects of the drugs,” said Rose Jones, who also attended the meeting. “There are even a lot of seniors that still don’t know.”

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