Police Join Forces Downtown to Battle Drug Epidemic That's Baffled Them All

There have been at least 151 arrests this year at the West End rail station in connection with downtown Dallas' synthetic drug epidemic. That's nearly four K2 arrests a week at the busy train stop between January and August. Dallas police have tried several crackdowns in the past two years, but little has stymied the spread of K2 use."We have a drug whose supply we cannot regulate," said council member Philip Kingston, expressing fears at this week's public safety committee meeting that police are fighting a losing battle.The drug — a blend of herbs and chemicals that is smoked like marijuana — is cheap, and dealers peddle the K2 cigarettes to homeless people at downtown rail stations and shelters. Now Dallas Area Rapid Transit police, Dallas County Community College District law enforcement, Dallas Police Department officers and the Downtown Safety Patrol are meeting monthly to discuss crime statistics to make rail stations, especially the highly trafficked downtown stations, safer.   Continue reading...