According to LPD, marijuana’s presence remains an “ongoing problem” in Lubbock.
“It’s an ongoing battle, it’s an ongoing problem. One that we address as adequately as we can but certainly one that always has our attention, and we investigate those just as rapidly as we when we come across them,” said Chief Jon Caspell, the LPD Assistant Chief of Police.
Chief Caspell says part of why that is is because of the city’s proximity to Colorado, a state that has legalized the use of cannabis, and that law enforcement has seen individuals travel to and from the state bringing back with them some of the substance. Another reason being because of Lubbock’s placement along Interstate 27.
“Whenever you’re apart of an interstate system, which we have I-27 right here, we tend to be somewhat of a conduit where we’ll tend to travel up and maybe hit Amarillo or go to Colorado and some other places. A lot of your towns along I-10 and I-20 also see this problem.”
LPD also says that once university classes start back up in the fall, there will be an expected increase in marijuana use among college students.
“We can normally expect an increase in certain activities when Tech comes back into session: underage drinking, parties. We can probably expect to see a little uptake in marijuana use, that seems to come with it, whether that’s specific to the the population, or the students coming in with the season.”
Police say however the bigger issue at hand seems to be the growing use of synthetic marijuana by individuals who may not realize just how dangerous and addictive it can be.
“That’s [synthetics] really one of the ones that’s caused a lot of concern over the past couple of years,” said Chief Caspell. “Users of it think that its because of its appearance and because of the sensation they get from it, they think its some sort of legalized synthetic marijuana when it really is not. There’s not a natural thing about it. It’s really not. It’s very dangerous and highly addictive. Daily, we see people admitted to local hospitals that have overdosed on this stuff with some really bad hallucinogenic problems.”
Whether it’s on the city streets, or on college campus grounds, Caspell says the LPD Special Operations unit is working diligently day and night to track down dealers in Lubbock, and cut off their supply.
“These officers deserve a lot of credit for the time they spend away from their families to make Lubbock streets as safe as possible for our communities and for our Tech kids,” Caspell said.