PORT ANGELES — When Detective Michael Grall of the State Patrol talks to middle school students about marijuana, he gives them a dose of cancer-related truth.
The youngsters commonly say they would never smoke cigarettes because they know cigarettes cause cancer, but when it comes to smoking marijuana, many say that at least they’ve considered the possibility, Grall said.
That’s when Grall tells them what’s really up.
Marijuana is carcinogenic, too, Grall said, adding that young people need information like that to make good decisions.
Giving information was Grall’s goal Tuesday in talking to about two dozen members of the Port Angeles Business Association at the group’s weekly breakfast meeting.
His topic was drugs, from marijuana to prescription drugs to heroin and methamphetamine, which he termed “the most addictive drug out there.”
Grall, a class of 1984 Port Angeles High School graduate who lives on the North Olympic Peninsula, is a 24-year law enforcement veteran, including the past 22 with the State Patrol.
His duties include working undercover as a member of the Olympic Peninsula Narcotics Enforcement Team, which covers Clallam and Jefferson counties.
The Clallam County Sheriff’s Office is the “host agency,” providing an administrator and clerical support, he said.
The Port Angeles Police Department provides a detective sergeant, while the State Patrol, Clallam County Sheriff’s Office, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Sequim Police Department and U.S. Border Patrol each staff OPNET with a detective, Grall said.
“From use to manufacture to sale to importation from other countries, we work all those angles,” he said.
Grall went through a litany of illegal drugs and their deleterious impacts, from cocaine use typically seen among those in their late teens to early 30s to heroin use, such a hard-core drug that “if you end up using heroin, you are probably on your way out of this world,” Grall said.
But perfectly legal prescription medications are the drug scourge of the day among young people and adults, he said.
“The craze right now is pills,” Grall said.
In particular he cited OxyContin, an analgesic stimulant synthesized from thebain, an opiate compound.
OxyContin is especially popular among young people, Grall said.
“The demographic as to pills is that young people, like high school students, share with people in middle school,” he said, by buying pills from someone else or getting prescriptions from doctors — and often more than one doctor.
“There’s not a mechanism in place to know a person is doctor shopping,” Grall said.
“It’s a very common thing for pills to be prescribed and for someone to get more than they need,” he added.
Users often crush OxyContin, heat the chunky powder in a spoon and inhale the smoke to get high, he said.
A 40-milligram OxyContin sold for $40 and an 80-milligram pill cost $80 until recently, when manufacturers developed a noncrushable pill to combat illegal use — and the price doubled.
In later interview, Grall cited “a huge influx of abuse of prescription medications” within just the last year.
“We can safely say there has been a decrease in methamphetamine use, but to what degree, we can quantitatively say,” he added.
In addition, while marijuana use has remained a consistent levels and is used by grade-schoolers to 70- and 80-year-olds, “there seems to be a little rise in people possessing it,” Grall said.
Also, while marijuana and alcohol have been the traditional drugs of choice among younger people, that’s changing.
“We’ve seen an influx of the younger generation using illegal substances, not just one or two, but several different kinds, like cocaine and methamphetamine.”
OPNET, which has a 2010 budget of $684,797, approaches illicit drug use by starting at ground level and working up the chain of distribution, he told PABA meeting attendees.
“Our goal, our mission, is to get to that highest level.”
Often the climb begins with an addict getting arrested and then supplying intelligence.
The 2010 budget plan anticipates OPNET making drug seizures valued at $50,000, county Administrator Jim Jones said, with final totals available in December.
But education and treatment are also necessary, Grall said.
“Treatment is a big part of the success of the whole picture,” he said. “In times past, it was not that way.”
Grall recalled attending a county adult Drug Court graduation last week.
“It was an awesome event to be part of, from the ground floor,” he said.
“With what one life is worth, that ripple goes all the way out to family and friends and businesses that employ the people.
“It takes one person to convince one kid to make the right choice. I’m telling you now, that’s awesome. We need to continue to fight the good fight.”
Grall is available to talk to groups of students and adults by phoning 360-461-1001.
“We can tailor a program to specific needs,” he said.
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Staff writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-417-3536 or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.