Editor’s Note: The Norway Police Department’s Citizens Police Academy offers the public an opportunity to learn about law enforcement and what it does from those who do it. It began in April and each week we will feature a class from the eight-week academy.

Week 5 – Drugs and Drug Addiction – Inv. Jeffrey Campbell, Sgt. Matthew Baker, Officer John Lewis and K-9 Officer BOLO

Opening the class on drugs and addiction, Sgt. Matt Baker of the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office has both personal and professional experience with drugs and addiction. He lost his daughter to addiction and he has dedicated his focus to educating on the danger of addiction.

“Heroin and alcohol are the most popular drugs of choice in Oxford County,” he said. They ensnare high schoolers, college students, wives, husbands and doctors, he noted.

“Addiction is a chronic medical disease,” he said “and 85% of those trying to [get clean] will relapse with the first year.”

“Genes and environment increase the risk [of addition] four times – 40-60% are at risk of addiction.”

He explained that using such drugs as Ritalin and Adderall often leads kids to heroin addiction.  

“And now,” he said, “they are putting fentanyl [more dangerous than heroin] in marijuana.”

In the southern part of the county, he said, “snorting and smoking heroin is more common while in the northern part as well as Norway/Paris/Oxford area, shooting up is more common. For some, the feel of the needle is addicting.”

“In 2016, 60,000 died from opioids nationwide; 40,000 from car crashes and 10,000 from gun deaths. There were 71,000 drug affected babies.”

“The heroin around here isn’t heroin – it’s fentanyl and there’s no way to know the difference which is why there are so many deaths. There are only two detox centers in the state. Portland has Milestone and Augusta has Maine General.”

He went on to list other treatment options throughout the state.

Norway Police Investigator Jeff Campbell took over noting that the biggest drug of abuse in the county is marijuana. “Now that it is legal we encounter it much more frequently than before – it has been normalized” and even elementary students are being seen with it.

He enthralled the class with samples of the way drugs are sold these days – little complexly folded newspaper packets, tiny “baggies” costing in street value between $40 up to $180 for a gram of heroin/fentanyl.

Campbell said heroin comes from Afghanistan and South America and fentanyl comes from China. Now, he added, carfentanil – which is 100 times more potent than fentanyl – is showing up and, again, there is no way to tell the difference.

“Oxford Hills, for the longest time, only saw soft cocaine (which is snorted),” he said. “Now there’s a lot of crack. And we had HAVE? 20-year-olds whose drug of choice was Suboxone®, a drug used to help addicts wean themselves from heroin.”

Campbell offered the class a chest full of drug paraphernalia – commonly seen where drugs are in use – that it could paw through.

Norway Police Officer John Lewis came next and explained how his partner, K-9 Officer BOLO, and other “drug dogs” are perfect for the work.

“While a human being can smell lasagna cooking,” he said, “a dog can smell each ingredient.”

That is how sensitive a dog’s sense of smell is. He told of BOLO’s training and, then, the moment the whole class had been waiting for, brought BOLO into the room. Without uttering a word to him, Lewis stepped back and BOLO began sniffing every inch of the room – back and forth – suddenly alerting on an area near the door.

From under the table, Lewis pulled a packet of drugs. The drugs BOLO was finding are actual drugs from the federal DEA which are precisely tested, measured and labeled for training purposes.

BOLO took off again circling the room and alerting on another hidden packet.

On his last orbit of the room he stopped by one of the participant’s chair, began sniffing in her bag and finally alerted on her.

Laughing at the obvious consternation on her face and the unprintable words coming our of her mouth, Lewis pulled a packed of drugs that had been taped to the bottom of her chair.

This ended the class on a humorous note for everyone except for BOLO who only cared about chasing his reward – a red rubber ball.

Editor’s Note: The next Citizens Police Academy will begin Tuesday, September 24.