City Seems to Be Drug Sales Center, Study Finds

Though Glendale has fewer addicts and street dealers than nearby communities, the city appears to be a drug distribution center for non-residents, a yearlong city study found.

The study by a committee of city, school and business leaders cited statistics from the Glendale Police Department indicating that more than 37% of all arrests last year were drug- or alcohol-related.

In its report released Monday, the committee encouraged, among other tactics, real estate agents and auto dealers to report large cash transactions as possible drug-related activity.

The recommendations were in a “white paper” by the 13-member committee named by the City Council to identify the scope of local substance abuse problems and develop programs to curtail them.

Copies of the report were distributed to more than 600 community leaders at a “Summit Luncheon” at the Glendale Civic Auditorium in conjunction with Red Ribbon Week, a national program focusing awareness and opposition to drug and alcohol abuse.

State Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren, the keynote speaker, commended Glendale for taking an aggressive role in combatting drug abuse. “The enemy is drug abuse,” Lungren said. “We can defeat the enemy within us.”

Lungren said later that while other cities have prepared similar reports, Glendale’s study is one of the most comprehensive he has seen. He said the study recognizes that the city has a substance abuse problem and that the problem affects all socioeconomic groups.

Glendale Police Capt. Ronald L. DePompa, who coordinated the substance abuse study project, said the report outlines the extent and types of problems in Glendale and offers recommendations to combat the problems.

“We wanted to find out what is unique in our community and to give everybody a road map of what they can do about it,” DePompa said.

The study includes subcommittee reports on potential actions that could be taken by business, medical workers, government, religious and civic organizations and schools, parents and youth.

The report concludes that attempts to curtail drug distribution are ineffective if they do not also curtail the demand--the main goal of the Glendale Drug Free Committee that prepared the report.

Committee members said they were surprised to learn that only a few employers in Glendale have a substance abuse policy and that most businesses do not believe drugs are a problem in the workplace. Federal studies indicate that 10% to 15% of American workers have a drug or alcohol problem.

Cocaine is the most common illicit drug used by adults, largely between ages 21 and 30, the report said. Police statistics also indicate that juveniles are most often arrested for using marijuana or alcohol.

While the study found that drug use among youngsters has been steadily declining in the last 10 years, it also warned that there is a “drastic increase” in the number of youths who experiment with inhalants such as glue and gasoline.