Wednesday, August 25, 1999
Agencies doing own pot testing
Capability saves time, money
BY RAY SCHAEFER
Enquirer Contributor
CRESCENT SPRINGS — Detective Sgt. Howard Russell has a steady drug business. The 18-year veteran of the Crescent Springs Police Department tests marijuana in misdemeanor cases — a job he says keeps him busy and should save the city money.
“This will definitely save taxpayer dollars to pay (for) the lab testing and court appearances,” Sgt. Russell said. “Maybe every other day I have to analyze marijuana. It's small amounts.”
Crescent Springs is the seventh Northern Kentucky police department to get the resources to test marijuana. Covington, Newport, Boone County, the Boone County Sheriff's Office, Florence and Kenton County are the others.
Sgt. Russell is one of about 20 officers in the state who have completed the 40-hour Kentucky State Police (KSP) course.
Convenience is why Capt. Ed Butler of the Kenton County Police Department likes testing pot locally. He said since one of his officers, Detective Tim Scheidt, began doing it in April 1998, the turnaround time for results has been slashed from four weeks to one or two days.
Sgt. Russell said his test time is even shorter.
“Sometime I've got to look several times,” Sgt. Russell said. “It takes 20, 25 minutes.”
Departments that don't have testing capability take their misdemeanor marijuana samples (less than 8 ounces) to the KSP regional lab in Cold Spring. The state lab handles all felony drug cases.
Northern Kentucky has kept the state lab busy up to now.
Lt. Terry Evans, acting director of the KSP forensic lab, said the Cold Spring facility sees 350 drug cases a month, with about 100 misdemeanors coming from Boone, Campbell and Kenton counties.
“That's going up every year,” Lt. Evans said.
Crescent Springs Chief Mike Ward didn't know how many misdemeanor marijuana cases his department processed last year, but he said it was costing the city about $30 an hour to bring an officer to court — only to have a case rescheduled because the lab tests weren't done.
“For our court system, we were starting to waste overtime hours waiting for the results,” Chief Ward said.
The state classes began in 1989 and were only open to KSP officers until two years ago.
Sgt. Russell completed his instruction in June, and the Kenton County Attorney's Office has certified him an expert witness when he appears in court.
The state paid for the course, and Crescent Springs spent about $2,900 for equipment, test chemicals and Sgt. Russell's salary. Chief Ward said the city should see a savings in about 18 months.
The course involved more than looking at pot plants. Sgt. Russell said marijuana has 14 identifying characteristics — resins on the leaf, vein and leaf structure are three — but just four need to be proved in court.
Sgt. Russell said he's willing to test any city's evidence, but his duties with Crescent Springs keep him occupied.
“It's continuous,” he said. “There's no slowdown.”
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