Pot times
Summer Sees Increase In Marijuana Use
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n1111/a10.htmlNewshawk: Humphrey Ploughjogger
Pubdate: Thu, 14 Jul 2005 SUMMER SEES INCREASE IN MARIJUANA USE
Source: The Beacon (MA)
Contact:
mailto:beacon@cnc.com>beacon@cnc.com
Website: <http://www2.townonline.com/acton>http://www2.townonline.com/acton
Address: 150 Baker Ave Ext, Ste 305, Concord, MA 01742
Copyright: 2005 Community Newspaper Company
Author: Nick Pinto, Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm
(Cannabis)
ACTON-The number of marijuana-related arrests and complaints in town has jumped
somewhat over the past several weeks, but police put the spike down to the onset
of summer.
"The weather is better, so people are outside more," said Lt.
Don Palma, a spokesman for the Acton Police Department. "Kids are
also out of school, so they have more time and less supervision."
Palma said he doesn't believe that the recent incidents constitute a significant
trend. "This happens pretty much every year," he said. One
area youth, who wished to remain anonymous, agreed that the increase in
marijuana-related incidents is probably just a seasonal phenomenon, but said
that the drug is readily available to students in town. "If you want
to get it, you can get it," he said. "It's pretty easy to find.
Some of it is kids selling to other kids, but I've also heard about people
dealing in larger quantities as well. You wouldn't have to go far to find
that. There's a variety, too. You can get really good weed, or you
can get bad weed." Another area teenager who spoke on condition of
anonymity said that he could think of more than 10 people in town from whom he
could buy marijuana. "It's kind of everywhere," he said.
Lt. Palma said that while the major highways running through and around
Acton serve as trafficking corridors to bring drugs out of Boston, little of
that movement spills over into Acton itself.
While he declined to speak in detail about ongoing investigations for fear of
compromising them, Palma said that Acton police are collaborating with state
police on long-term investigations into what he called "mid-level
dealers" in town. "We're working towards some arrests on that
front," Palma said. "Both to shut the operation down and
hopefully to find out more about the distribution and move up the ladder."
In the meantime, though, Palma said, the situation is under control.
"There isn't really anything unusual or alarming about the last couple of
weeks," he said. "I think it's just that it's summer, so we're
seeing it more."
