Federal Officials Target Drug Users, Not Just Dealers

NEW HAVEN (AP) — Federal prosecutors in Connecticut have expanded the focus of drug crackdowns by going after drug users, not just dealers.

The effort is part of the national “demand-reduction initiative” in which the Justice Department has informed US Attorneys that attacking the users’ side of the drug market should be part of their enforcement strategy, according to Michael Kulstad, a department spokesman.

Federal drug cases usually involve “big fish,” said Kevin O’Connor, US attorney for Connecticut.

“From a philosophical perspective, we have ... long specialized in this office in locking up and dismantling large drug-trafficking organizations,” Mr O’Connor said recently.

Now, federal prosecutors have come to realize that, in attacking only the supply side, they were ignoring the other half of the drug equation.

Federal prosecutors generally encounter drug users through wiretap investigations of dealers and carefully choose which ones to prosecute, Mr O’Connor said. They focus on repeat buyers and cases in which evidence is strongest. That way, cases can be disposed of quickly, generally through a plea agreement, so the federal court system is not overburdened, Mr O’Connor said.

Defendants who plead guilty must repay the cost of prosecution, typically about $500, which is used to help pay for their treatment. If drug users are arrested with cash on them, the money usually is donated to a community group, Mr O’Connor said.

The redirection of money is “very powerful” symbolism, Mr O’Connor said.

Under the demand-reduction initiative, the federal government has charged 10 to 20 drug users and will prosecute up to 50 more over the next year, Mr O’Connor said.

For practical reasons, they mostly have been Fairfield County cases so far, but the effort will expand to include the rest of the state.