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Teen Dope Cases Swamp the PoliceBy HAROLD AssociatedThe policeman, the parent and the teen-ager’s mind are the three main approaches toCalifornia's rapidly-rising juvenile narcotics problem.It's swamping the police. Parents have to be convinced.And the big stale effort (o get to the teen-ager the full story on marijuana and LSDlast of a Seriesis yet to roll off the press —now set for mid-May.Arrests of juveniles — up MO per cent for marijuana alone — exceeded 5,000 in California last year. The way it’s going, tlte State Bureau of Criminal Statistics figures that by 1071 the lota! will he between 15,000 and 22,00(1 ayear.Arrest is admittedly a stop-gap solution. Already it issmall worldlike ) SAY, you’ve GOTTO EXEkCISE RESTRAINTV.STREETER Press Writerovertaxing many law enforcement agencies. Orange County, with 1.3 million residents, has only 12 narcotics officers.“We’re not even holding our own,” laments Sgt. Robert Reed, of the county sheriff’s narcotics detail. ‘'The problem is getting ahead of us.”Enforcement problems form a spider web.“We’re retreating from a firm attitude on marijuana and giving users too many breaks,” insists Matthew M.O’Connor, head of Northern California’s division of the State Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement.“We need a more solid approach from the courts,” contends Santa Barbara County’s Sheriff James Webster. “Too many of the offenders arc setting off too easily.”Detection, particularly of odorless, colorless LSD, is a, thorny job. Only recently did Southern California’s stale narcotics division get a $0,000 analytical unit.More important to solving the crisis than who got and used the stuff is where lie got it.“That old image of a pusher lurking around the school just isn’t true,” points out Sgt. Eugene Znppoy, who heads the 16-man narcotic unit in (he juvenile division of the Los Angeles Police Department.“The schools are very much aware of tlie problem and I bey police I heir areas very well, Bui the kids gel it else-
Newspaper Details
Oakland Tribune
Oakland, California, US
Thu, May 04, 1967
Page 40
Full Page
Clipped by
Los A.
CA, USA 14 Jan 2022
Other Publications Near Oakland, California
Sunday Oakland Tribune
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