Featured News

The High Price to..Crack Cocaine..

What it is doing to Wayne County

Crack cocaine is king in Wayne County . It is the most prevalent of the hard, illegal drugs found on the streets and back roads. At $10 per “rock” and subsequent high, the drug is relatively cheap. That makes it the avenue of escape for the poor, lower economic strata of Wayne County .

The price is deceptive, of course. Once a crack cocaine user starts using, crack cocaine becomes a person's entire life. Very few, if any, crack cocaine users have, or hold jobs. According to police and drug therapists, the obtaining and use of crack cocaine becomes a person's job.

Rob Milby knows all too well the effects of crack cocaine in Wayne County . For five years Milby, now the Wayne County Sheriff's Lieutenant in charge of road deputies, served in the capacity of an undercover drug officer.

Milby recalls one instance where a middle-class woman waited until her husband was asleep, then snuck out of the house in search of crack. “He had no idea what was happening,” said Rob.

Milby said that too often, someone new to the crack addiction is not street-wise and loses their car and belongings to a dealer. Stolen vehicles end up in the City of Rochester , the source for most of Wayne County 's crack supply.

Rob said that since crack addicts rarely are employed, they turn to crime, petit larcenies from area stores, home and business burglaries and often, thefts from friends and family members. Milby cited one case where a woman sold her daughter for sex just to get crack.

Crack addicts will go to any lengths to get the next rock. Last week, Macedon Police arrested Thomas General, age 42, of Macedon for several charges following an investigation into an alleged kidnapping. General was charged with Petit Larceny, Attempted Petit Larceny, and Scheme to Defraud in the Second Degree. Police report that General had been staying with a couple in Macedon, and that he left on April 26th and went to the City of Rochester to visit with family.

On Wednesday April 30th, General came home at approximately 10:30 pm and an unknown black male was driving his car. General advised the Macedon couple that he had been kidnapped by drug dealers in Rochester and that they were holding his 16 year old son hostage until he paid them $300 dollars. The couple in Macedon gave General $300 dollars and General told them not to call the Police. The couple immediately called 911 and General left prior to Police arriving. Macedon Police alerted Rochester authorities of the incident and there was no sign of General until he contacted the Macedon couple on Saturday, May 3rd. General stated that he needed them to bring $600 dollars to him in Rochester or the drug dealers would kill him and his son, and that they now were holding his 18 year old daughter captive.

Macedon Police recorded the telephone calls from General and General agreed to pick up the $600 dollars in Macedon, at the WalMart parking lot where he had worked for a short time before failing to return to the store.

Members of the Wayne County Narcotics Enforcement Tactical Team were set up in the WalMart parking lot, and they took General and a passenger, Jonathan L. Mosley, age 26, of 32 Princeton Street , Rochester , into custody without incident. After questioning, General admitted that the kidnapping stories were created so that he could obtain more money to purchase crack cocaine.

Rochester Police searched a residence at 99 Ambrose Street where General was alleged to have been held captive in the basement and occupants there advised the Police that General had been there on his own and that he was smoking crack all week.

General was arraigned in Macedon Town Court in front of Judge Ron Reinstein and was remanded to the Wayne County Jail on $7,500 cash bail. A stay away/no contact order of protection was issued to the Macedon couple, a court order General has already violated.

What is crack cocaine?

Crack cocaine, often nicknamed "crack" after the sound made during its manufacture, was created and made popular during the 1980s. Basically, it is powdered cocaine mixed with additives and cooked into a solid form that is then broken down into small pieces for sale.

Crack is then heated to melting and smoked using a thin metal or glass pipe. When smoked in this form, crack cocaine allows for a quicker absorption into the blood stream, coupled with the fact that "crack" is considered more potent than cocaine hydrochloride, users obtain an intense high a lot quicker than the normal method of inhaling powdered cocaine.

According to Newark Police Chief Dick Bogan, crack cocaine made its appearance 15 to 16 years ago in Wayne County . He credited a Newark woman who learned her cocaine cooking habits in Rochester and set up shop, first in Lyons , then in Newark . Back then, street hustlers were known to ply their trade on certain street corners. That practice long gone, dealers now prefer to sell only to those they know.

Although Lieutenant Rob Milby said there are still those who import the powdered cocaine from the City to cook it into rock cocaine within Wayne County , most crack is brought directly from City suppliers.

Bogan stated that crack cocaine today, is a commodity, with street dealers replaced as soon as they are swept up by police. The extreme high that is experienced by the user, makes them chase the same first high for the rest of their addiction.

Crack seen as a way to riches

Milby said the Wayne County Sheriff's Office seized a kilo (about 2.2 pounds) of cocaine last year, valued at about $26,000. The value of the drug investment is multiplied many times over. Once powdered cocaine is cut with additives and cooked into rock, a mid-level street dealer in Wayne County has been known to bring in between $3000-$4000 per week. The downside to that paycheck is that the vast majority of street-level dealers are also crack addicts. The money brought in often feeds their own habit.

The treatment

Mel Years, a therapist for the Wayne County Mental Health Department said that between 15% and 20% of the clientele the Department counsels are addicted to crack cocaine. Another 50% of the clients are addicted to other drugs in addition to crack.

Years said that crack cocaine seems to bring an addict to the bottom of addiction faster that any other drug currently available. Unfortunately, the climb out of that addiction can be a much longer road. After the initial withdrawal symptoms, a crack addict can expect a withdrawal attack within about 20 days from the initial hell. Years stated that the battle with many insurance carriers is that 20 days of crack sobriety is simply not enough coverage. In addition to the 20 day rule of thumb, a crack addict, without a very strong support system, will hit yet another craving wall six months out of any treatment.

According to Milby, drug dealers know their best customers are those who were former crack addicts. Recidivism is very high with crack cocaine,” said Lieutenant Milby.

Milby said that the addiction to crack cocaine users is so high, many users arrested will never show up for court appearances. They (the arrested users) also know that first time arrests are usually light and they would rather do a small amount of time than enter a substantial treatment program.

Milby said that police undercover operators must adjust for the trends in the drug market. “I've had some dealers work a regular 9-5 job selling drugs. They think they know the trends of police and how to avoid them.”

One thing police have reported is that once a small foothold into a drug ring is made, there is no loyalty among those selling. Friends and family are quickly put aside for a reduced jail, or prison sentence. Meanwhile, police agencies continue seizing huge amounts of cash, cars and even houses in Wayne County . There is little question that crack cocaine has, and will continue to have a major impact in Wayne County.