Feds say less cocaine on city streets

From New York City to San Francisco, the feds say 37 cities across the country are reporting a drop in cocaine on the streets including Rochester.

"The effect we will see here street level is that powdered cocaine will be selling at a higher level, a higher price,” said Newark Police Chief Richard Bogan.

Bogan is also commander of WayneNet, Wayne County’s drug task force.  Their last major bust for cocaine was in December of last year, 28 people arrested many of them street level cocaine dealers.  The drugs likely came from Rochester to the rural areas.

"There was a huge availability of crack cocaine around here,” Bogan said.

But the task force's most recent bust just this month was mainly marijuana.

"We were somewhat surprised to see less trafficking and less availability of cocaine at that time,” said Bogan.

It shouldn't be a surprise according to the nation's drug czar who says there is an unprecedented decline in cocaine availability in the United States.  The drop seen from January to July is partly due to crackdowns in Mexico.

The shortage of cocaine does not mean an easier job for authorities here in Newark or throughout Wayne County.  The police chief here says drug addicts who can't get cocaine will find another fix.

"Unfortunately we look at the potential as we saw several years ago that the crack cocaine users will replace and try to satisfy their needs with a replacement drug such as heroin,” Bogan said.

In Rochester, police say they haven't seen the effects of the shortage. Prices have remained steady, that means dealers could be diluting their product to stretch their supply.