FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) — Marijuana seizures made by the Fort Wayne Police Department have seen a significant drop over the last few years.
In 2020, FWPD took 67,843.5 grams of pot off the streets. In 2021, the number dropped to 54,676.9 grams. 32,855 grams were seized in 2022. That’s not even half of what they took off the streets two years prior.
The reason for the decline is pretty simple according to Captain Kevin Hunter from the Vice and Narcotics Bureau at FWPD.
They’ve been much more focused on fentanyl.
“Fentanyl is, again, it’s killing people and we want to get that off the streets so that we’re not causing harm to our community,” Captain Hunter said. “Certainly, marijuana is still illegal in the state of Indiana, and we will make arrests if we come across it. But our focus is getting the really, really dangerous drugs like fentanyl and methamphetamine off the streets.”
There were 154 fatal overdoses in Fort Wayne last year. Captain Hunter says most of those were a result of fentanyl.
“Any pills that are out on the street right now are typically counterfeit and contain fentanyl, and/or something called xylazine, which is an animal tranquilizer, which has an additive effect. So, again there’s no safe street drug out there right now,” he explained.
98,539 counterfeit M-30 pills were seized by FWPD in 2022. The pills are presented as something else, but contain fentanyl.
Their main goal is to avoid the deaths they’re seeing as a result of drug use.
While there is a focus on fentanyl, Captain Hunter said that doesn’t mean they’re not worried about marijuana.
He said that if they make a bust and come across other drugs, it becomes a larger seizure.
That happens with marijuana.
He said there isn’t much of a relation to the lower marijuana numbers and the fact that people can drive to Michigan to purchase it.
What he can say for certain is that they’ve seen overdose-like effects from high-THC products.
While marijuana laced with fentanyl hasn’t been seen in Fort Wayne, according to Hunter, they’ve heard of that happening elsewhere.
Captain Hunter’s main message to residents is that there is no safe drug out there.
