How the drug task force is tackling drugs in the community
WARREN COUNTY, Ky. – The war on drugs is continuing to drag on all across the country, and Warren County is no exception to that.
The Bowling Green-Warren County Drug Task Force has been hard at work investigating and clearing drugs from the community. However, over the course of many decades, drug habits have changed, and while some improvements have been made with some drugs in other areas, it has been stagnant.
“The drug of choice is always changing. We have seen a decrease in fentanyl, which is a really good thing as far as, bulk amounts coming into Bowling Green. It’s still here, but in a lesser amount. It’s what everything indicates to us. The methamphetamine has still not really slowed down at all, and we continue to tackle that,” said Tommy Loving, director of the Bowling Green/Warren County Drug Task Force.
Meth remains the top drug of choice in the south central Kentucky area, and makes up about a third of overdose deaths across the state, but it was in the mid 2010’s when policing it saw a drastic change.
“We were inundated with meth labs, which were also very dangerous, they exploded, they caught fire to businesses, homes, all sorts of problems. And then the Mexican cartels started manufacturing methamphetamine in, in bulk in a true laboratory setting in Mexico. And that’s when we started seeing the powers of this high potency meth come into to our area but the entire US through the southwest border,” Loving said.
Newer and more potent drugs are starting to make themselves known in the area though.
Cychlorphine is a new drug that agencies across the country are starting to notice and is thought to be more potent than fentanyl. So far, it has not shown up in Kentucky, but it has resulted in over a dozen overdose deaths in Tennessee. Loving says that they are prepared for it thanks to their local and national connections.
“We get early notification of drug trends nationally, along with not just the printed material, but also photographs, what to look for, trends, how it’s being used in communities so that that’s a great help. And as soon as we get that information, we disseminate it to our detectives and then also to the, city police, state police and sheriff’s office,” Loving said.
Loving also says that parents play a big role in combating drugs, as paying attention to your child’s activities can play a big role in combating drug abuse.
