Trends in Ocean City Drug Enforcement

Historically, it depends on what seems to be the problem drug at that time, because as the years go by some drugs increase or decrease in usage and become either more of an issue of less of an issue.

One example of this is marijuana which has been illegal in Maryland for years and years and years. But a couple of years ago, it became clear that you could synthesize marijuana and it doesn’t technically have the compounds of the natural plant. So therefore, technically, it wasn’t illegal. And those items were being sold pretty much throughout the country. I think some of it was called Spice. Some of it was called K2. It was being marketed under some sort of brand, and for a while it was being sold at shops right there on the boardwalk.

So once law enforcement realized that the synthetic marijuana is going to have the same impact as if somebody would sell or were to smoke a typical marijuana plant, they made the drug illegal—first by the city ordinance and the state caught up and finally also legislated it as being illegal. Still, Ocean City paved the way for the state and passed an ordinance that said you can’t possess this synthetic drug. That was something that Ocean City—the law enforcement in Ocean City and Worcester County—really worked to crack down.

Other Growing Drug Trends in Ocean City

Also, Ocean City has a senior week, where they are specifically catering to individuals who have just graduated high school. They want to come down to Ocean City for the week and go to the beach et cetera. There’s actually an underage night club located in Ocean City where you can be under 21 and go to this night club. With that age group, especially in the past couple of years, party drugs have become very popular.

Ecstasy is one of those drugs. It is currently referred to also as Molly and has the same physiological impact on whoever takes it.

These are drugs that younger people, when they are partying, could be taking while drinking or without drinking. Sometimes young people are able to get possession of that drug and they don’t even attempt to purchase alcohol, they’re just using that substance.

So of course, Ocean City prosecutes this very intensely because that is not in keeping with the safe environment promoted for these high school kids to come down and celebrate senior week.

The authorities pay very close attention to that age group when they come in to town. They are looking to see if they are using those substances. This means that there are certain times—very specific times—during the summer where the prosecution of a drug like ecstasy or Molly  is being targeted. And officers are looking for that kind of drug.

Statewide Drug Enforcement Trends

In addition to what is going on in Ocean City, it seems like everywhere else in the state of Maryland and in the United States, there has just been a huge uptick in heroin possession. And at this point, heroin is cheaper to purchase than prescription pills such as Oxycodone or Oxycotin.

An addict could buy more heroin than they could buy Oxycodone for the money that they have. Accordingly, there’s just been a big increase in heroin possession and heroin distribution in the state of Maryland and also in Worcester County and in Ocean City. So for this reason, there’s a big push to investigate and make arrests for heroin possession or heroin distribution.

Trends in Ocean City Drug Use

I have seen a significant increase in illegal possession of prescription drugs. It is becoming more frequent to meet with a client who possessed a prescription drug that was not prescribed to him. This increase is related to several factors, one of which is the relatively easy acquisition of those drugs. However, illegally purchasing those drugs has gotten very expensive, meaning they have a high street value.  This has unfortunately has led to an uptick in heroin use, due to the less expensive price for heroin. Unfortunately, Ocean City also sees its fair share of club drugs, such as Molly (aka MDMA or Ecstasy). This is a popular drug choice for young people, due to a misbelief that this drug is not as dangerous.  Unfortunately, these drugs can be very dangerous, and have caused many trips to the ER for users who have a significant increase in their body temperature leading to seizures and death.